The Life Of A Torchic
by The1andOnlyBen99
Summary: Ben, a curious and somewhat brave Torchic, is born into a loving Blaziken family. All on a planet where humans have become extinct, and Pokémon have risen up to take their place. As Ben grows, he soon discovers that the world he lives in is a rather dark and unforgiving place. With his life changing for better, and for worse. Rated M for language, lemons and other fun innuendo ;)
1. The End of Man-The 2nd Rise of Pokémon

**Author's Notes****:**

First of all, a friendly hello and welcome to everyone that has found my story. This is my very first fanfiction and will probably be the longest story that I'll ever write in my entire life. My plan for the future of this story is to write it to completion and a little beyond, with new chapter releases occurring roughly every two or three weeks. I will try my best to pump out new chapters as soon as I can but that all depends on how busy I get with real life things. I'm honestly really excited to write the remainder of this story as the plot I have set up looks to be really juicy and emotionally heart tugging at the same time. On a more serious note there will be **slight humanization/anthropomorphism** of Pokémon in this story but will still continue to walk how normal Pokemon should. Evolution in this story is age based(will provide better details when the time is right), with the age of a Pokémon heavily affecting their height and weight. Looking far into the future I plan to include some ever popular **lemon **in the later chapters along with the occasional sexual reference or innuendo sprinkled throughout the story as well. ;) Alright, with the intro out of the way, please enjoy my story.

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon or it's related franchises.**

**Additional Info Before Reading****:**

-Arceus is the god of all Pokémon and they look up to him as such.

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**Chapter 1****: Part 1-The End of Man**

Earth...a place where people and Pokémon of all types, shapes and sizes, lived in peace and harmony with one another for a multitude of generations. Humans, which saw Pokémon as a great asset to everyday life, continued to love and care for Pokémon all over the world. Humans loved Pokémon so much so that all of the countries of the world banned together to created a treaty that called for world peace and equality amongst humans and Pokemon alike. It was given the name: Treaty Of Everlasting World Peace or T.O.E.W.P. and was signed by all major governing officials from every country in the world on the year 2150.

The treaty worked just as planned and continued to do its job for 50 whole years, but good things never last forever. A bunch of rumors would start to spread about a small group of large countries violating the treaty, eventually leading to a worldwide investigation. All major leaders of the countries in question were thoroughly interrogated as an extensive search took place within each of the countries' governments. It was unfortunately discovered that the leaders within these countries were funding and even running gruesome and deadly Pokemon fights for the past ten years, consequently resulting in the death of thousands of Pokémon each year. Some places in those countries even killing Pokémon and selling them as a delicacy for human consumption.

The ruling forces over those countries were ordered to step down from their positions of power as they had broken the T.O.E.W.P. They refused and stated that if any other country made an advance on their border or launched any type of bomb at them, they would declare war on the rest of the world. The remaining loyal countries could do nothing but watch as videos of mass Pokémon killings started to surface all over the internet. Protests from the people finally pressured the 'good' government leaders to take action against the corrupt countries. On January 27, 2204 the USA and its allies dropped three Helix bombs on three extremely populated cities in the defying countries, killing a little over 133 million people.

Now these Helix bombs were capable of hundreds of square miles of destruction which is 100 times more powerful than the now dwarfed hydrogen bomb. World War 4 had just begun with the betraying countries retaliating by dropping two dozen helix bombs on all of the other opposing countries with a body count too high to even comprehend. This barrage back and forth would continue for two months, inflicting insane amounts of damage to the entire planet. It would eventually come to a stop with one of the Helix bombs landing in the direct center of Alaska. The bomb caused a hundred million year old pocket of air to open up, releasing an airborne disease, never before seen by humans, into the atmosphere. Quickly spreading like a wildfire, the disease began to dissipate to nearby countries with it claiming the first of its victims. Once inhaled, the disease would immediately start to break down the lung tissue, effectively choking those who were infected. Unconsciousness would occur after five minutes and death after eight. It took the sickness only three days to spread throughout the entire planet, wiping any survivors of the nuclear fallout clean off the face of the earth. The human species had officially gone extinct.

**Part 2-The Second Rise of Pokemon**

The fallout was way worse than any Pokémon could've ever imagined. It is estimated that 75% of all Pokémon on earth were killed by either the Helix bombs or by the destruction that they left behind. Strangely enough however, the disease that ended the human race had no effect on Pokémon or any other wild animal. That was about the only thing going for the remaining Pokémon as most of the earth's natural landscapes were destroyed, leaving them stripped, radioactive, barren wastelands. Even the effects of global warming, which was previously reversed by humans, began to return with hundreds of billions of dying trees fueling the greenhouse effect. Ocean and surface temperatures reached all times highs which made sustainable life much harder to achieve. Food also soon became a rarity for many Pokémon which led to cannibalism amongst families to grow increasingly popular.

Five years passed with the population continuing to decline to a measly 10% due to radiation poisoning, cannibalism, starvation, and global warming. It started to look as though the Pokémon species as a whole would suffer the same fate as the human race, but an extremely powerful Pokémon saw to it that that wouldn't happen. This Pokémon's name was Arceus. Now Arceus was believed to be the creator of the known universe and to have also shaped the world as we know it today. Using its infinite powers, Arceus reversed the effects of global warming, dissipated the remaining radiation from the Helix bombs, and restored some of the ecosystems that were previously destroyed. Arceus then sent down three wise and legendary Pokémon to govern three different tribes. The Green Tribe, led by a grass type named Celibi, would lead a tribe in central North America. The Blue Tribe, led by a water type named Keldeo, would lead a tribe in Central Europe. And the Red Tribe, led by a fire type named Entei, would lead a tribe in Southern Russia.

As soon as most of the scattered remaining Pokémon were gathered at one of the three tribes, a large census took place. It was then discovered that Fairy type Pokémon had gone completely extinct with Grass, Ice and Bug types being very close to extinction as well. In order to preserve and facilitate a steady growth within the remaining population, the three leaders decided that colonies be established within their respective tribe's land. These colonies started out small but soon grew into thriving communities with homes, farms, schools and even medical centers. As the Pokémon began to explore the world again, they started to notice multiple new berry producing plants that they had never before seen on earth. All of the new berries happened to be edible with most of them having different kinds healing properties and other effects. The Pokémon later concluded that the radiation from the Helix bombs must've caused a mutation to occur in the already existing berry plants, allowing them to produce numerous different types of berries.

As the colonies began to expand, the need for long distance communication arose, but there was a problem. Pokémon didn't have a written language. So the tribe leaders made a group decision that all Pokémon would be required to learn how to read, write and speak the English language. With the help of some old books that survived the bombing, Pokèmon slowly began to get the hang of the language which allowed a mail system to come into fruition. As the population began to recover, the colonies soon evolved into towns, towns into cities, cities into states and states into unique Pokèmon countries. Trade, migration and means of mass travel soon became a thing which led to a wide diversity of Pokémon in most parts of the world. Especially the northeastern part of North America, which is where a Torchic's story was just beginning.

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**Post Author's Notes****:**

I hope you all enjoyed what is basically the prologue of the story. Chapter 2 through 5 is also available to read so feel free to check them out if you get the chance. If you liked what you read so far, feel free to give the story follow so that you're notified when a new chapter goes live. Also, please keep an eye on or take a look at my profile as I post frequent updates on the status and release dates of future chapters. Thanks for reading fellow fanfic nerds and I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day :)


	2. A Warm Welcome

Welcome to chapter 2 everyone. This is the first chapter with dialogue and I'm clearly not a master at writing it but I did try my best. There are spacing changes in this chapter so that the dialogue and story is easier to read and follow along with. There are some references to some parts of childbirth and the natural events that happen afterwards such as breastfeeding. Now with that stuff out of the way, please enjoy reading chapter 2 :)

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon or any other franchise related to it.**

**Additional Information Before Reading:**

-Certain warm blooded Pokémon give birth to live offspring in this story(usually born as an egg, which sounds really painful for the parent)

-Pokémon don't usually wear clothes but certain professions do require slight clothing all depending on the profession they are in.

-The next few chapters will be told from the perspective of the parents. This will change later in the story.

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**Chapter 2: A Warm Welcome**

500 years after the formation of the tribes, in the northeastern part of North America, smack dab in the middle of Pennsylvania, in an average sized hospital, a happily married Blaziken couple eagerly awaited the arrival of their new baby. The mother, whose name was Shula Pyre, started having massive contractions only a few hours ago. Her husband Kelvin Blaze brought her to the hospital that morning as he sat at her side comforting since they arrived. With Shula being in labor for almost 6 hours, the baby torchic was finally greeted into the great big world on November 7, 2709 at 5:30 P.M.

"Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Blaze, it's a boy!" exclaimed a white-coated Alakazam.

After all the cleanup and newborn screenings were taken care of, the Alakazam once again entered the room, but this time cradling the newborn baby torchic swaddled in a snow white colored blanket and gently handed the featherless bundle of joy to the mother. Both of the parents were amazed at seeing the little torchic open its eyes for the first time and start cooing at its parents. Their hearts instantly melted as it started to squirm and smile while taking in its surroundings. As the parents were adoring their new born baby, the Alakazam started typing away on his tablet-like device with a stylus.

Looking up from the tablet he asked, "Have you two decided on a name for your bouncing baby boy?"

Kelvin and Shula looked at each other, having talked about boys names extensively beforehand, gave the name "Benjamin Charr Blaze."

The doctor looked back down and continued filling out more information such as the baby's name, length of 10 in. and weight which happened to be 2 lbs. exactly.

"Alright, he's all set. I'll come back in about an hour or so to check up on the baby."

"Alright Dr. Al, thanks for everything." Kelvin said as Dr. Al left the room.

With everyone but the family out of the hospital room the baby quickly became the center of attention.

"Look honey, he's got your beautiful eyes." said Kelvin cutely.

"Oh he does, and look how cute his little feet are." Shula said in a high-pitched voice.

"His feathers are starting to grow too." Kelvin said excitedly.

The parents would continue to marvel at Arceus' little creation and having some time in between to feed and burp Ben before Dr. Al came back for the checkup.

"Okay, lets see here" he said as he placed a stethoscope on Ben's chest. "Everything sound normal there." and continued on with a visual inspection of the eyes, ears, mouth, skin and very short feathers. "It all looks pretty good." he said while nodding his head. "Now we have a tradition here at the hospital where we display all the newborn babies at the nursery that we have down the hall. It's not required of parents to conform with this tradition but it would be greatly appreciated if you did so."

"Yeah that's fine with us" said Shula looking up at Kelvin who was now holding and looking at the baby. Kelvin, who was completely lost in the love he had for his newborn child, heard what the doctor said but didn't really comprehend it. "Honey?" Shula asked Kelvin, "Did you hear what the doctor said?"

"Huh?" replied Kelvin looking at his wife and then the doctor with a confused look on his face. Realizing what was going and what was asked of him he begun to look a little embarrassed and finally said, "Oh Arceus, I-I'm so sorry Dr. Al." as he gently placed the baby in the Alakazam's arms.

The doctor just gave Kelvin a smile, "I see it happen all the time Mr. Blaze, there no need to sweat it." assured the Alakazam.

Kelvin smiled back awkwardly at the doctor as he watched him leave with his child. A couple of minutes later an Audino wearing pink nurse clothes walked in with a few small books and pamphlets in her hands. Approaching the couple she happily stated "Hello, I'm Abby Dino, one of the many baby experts located here in the hospital. I know that you know how big of an undertaking a baby can be and with Torchic being one of the more picky fire types to raise, you'll probably need these." handing the books and pamphlets to both of the parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Blaze had researched beforehand how difficult it was to raise a Torchic as they both saw having children together was the ultimate form of love, second to being married. Both parents began to scan the different pamphlets and books as they soon realizing they were in for the ride of their lives. Shula, finding something in one of the pamphlets, gave it a disgusted and confused look, also showing it to Kelvin who reacted in a similar way.

Noticing their expressions Abby quickly spoke up, "Do you have a question Mr. & Mrs. Blaze?"

"Umm yes, why would you want to tape down the feathers that are growing longer than the others in the baby's first 2 years?" asked Shula.

"Oh, it's actually quite simple." Abby replied, "All newly born Torchic don't molt their feathers until two years of age which leaves a long period of time where their feathers can grow to long lengths. Long enough to the point where it might start to impact the baby's motor skills, possibly its sight and many other senses. Although longer feathers are more of a male thing, precautions should be taken whether the baby be male or female. The taping down of certain feathers or areas usually ensures even length and growth of most of the feathers. Of course if there were any stragglers, they can be cut in half but not plucked completely. Plucking of feathers can harm young Trochics and leave bald spots where that feather used to be. After their two year threshold however, they begin to molt as normal and plucking every once in a while won't have any negative health effects."

"Interesting, we'll definitely be keeping a close eye on feather growth then" responded Shula.

"I have a question." stated Kelvin kindly.

"Fire away" Abby said, clever of her little play on words, but no one seemed to notice.

"What kind of blanket would you recommend for Benjamin in his early, featherless months of life? We did some research before we decided to have a baby and a lot of places said that baby Torchic's need an external source of warmth or extra layer to keep them warm."

"My answer to that question would depend on where your baby is at. If he's inside the house just sitting in some sort of chair then you probably don't need some external heat source or blanket. You see, Torchics naturally produce a very good and steady source of heat inside their body's which sometimes makes them feel warm when you hug them for example. When you would want to use them is when you travel outside or while your walking around with the baby in a public place. If he's outside uncovered, an ambient temperature of less than 75 degrees could cause his body cool down which would negatively affect his health and wearing something in public can help with the fact that he'll be featherless. What the hospital offers you in terms of external heat sources is a very cute orange onesie that's really easy to take off and put back on. Luckily for you the hospital does provide a free onesie for all torchic and other bird-like baby Pokémon families. With yours being fireproof of course and if you ever wanted more than one you can choose from a list in one of the pamphlets I gave you."

"Thank you very much, we'll certainly look into getting a few extra ones." Shula spoke up eagerly.

This questionnaire continued for an hour and a half as the new parents continued to learn more and more about their new baby. It soon came to an abrupt end as Dr. Al came walking in with a sleeping Torchic wearing a very cute orange onesie and gently placed him in the bassinet to the left of their bed.

Now looking at the parents, asked them "Don't you think you two should get some sleep? It's almost 8:30 at night."

"But I still have more questions for Abby." Shula protested.

"Shula, I think the doctor's right, we need to get as much sleep as we can before Ben wakes up in the middle of the night." said Kelvin while yawning.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that." She said sadly, then looked up at Abby with a smile. "Well thank you Abby very much for answering our questions and we really appreciate your time."

"Your welcome Mr. and Mrs. Blaze and I wish you two luck in caring for Ben." Abby said while waving as she left the hospital room.

"I'm gonna leave so you can get some sleep, as your husband I see has already got a head start." whispered Dr. Al as Shula looked to her right seeing her husband out cold beside her, snoring away.

"Thank you Dr. Al" Shula said tiredly

The alakazam just nodded and waved at her while dimming the lights to a low hue before leaving and closing the door. It only took a few minutes for Shula to fall asleep as the exciting day drained her of her energy that would usually keep her up until the early hours of the morning.

...

A loud, shrieking sound suddenly woke up Shula making her jerk upward and soon realized where it was coming from. It was Ben, crying and shrieking at the top of his lungs while flailing around in the bassinet. Looking up at the red digital clock on the wall which read 3:56 A.M. then looking over to her husband who was still somehow unfazed by the assault on her ears and started to shake him and call his name

"Kelvin, Kelvin wake up, KELVIN."

"Huh, what, w...what's up honey?" said Kelvin sleepily, now beginning to hear why she was awake. "Is that the baby?" he asked while yawning.

"Yes, can you get him for me?"

"Yeah, yeah I can get him" walking around the bed, carefully picking Ben up and placed him into her arms.

"Do you think he's hungry?" Shula asked.

"I would assume so, he hasn't had any food other than before the checkup." replied Kelvin while returning to his side of the bed.

Shula sighed as she began to shift feathers on her chest, lifted Ben up slightly and started to feed him until he was satisfied, fighting sleep as hard as she could while doing so.

"Do you want to burp him Kelvin?"

"Yeah, I can…...do that." Kelvin said while being interrupted by a long yawn.

Shula gently handing Ben off to Kelvin along with a white towel, with Shula falling back to sleep shortly after. Putting the cloth over his right shoulder, Kelvin began to burp Ben until he noticed a foul stench come across his nose. He soon realized the source being Ben's diaper which was quickly and cautiously changed before Kelvin returned to burping Ben, with little belches happening every other minute until the baby fell back asleep. Kelvin, already half asleep, decided to lay back down on the bed and doze off with Ben comfortably sleeping on his chest. Silence once again overtook the hospital room with the new family now sleeping soundly, apart from Kelvin's very loud snoring.

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Alright, I hope you all enjoyed a decent sized Chapter 2. First things first, I'd like to thank 'The Office' tv show for teaching me what goes on before a baby is born(the episode where Pam has her kid). Chapter 3 is available for everyone's reading pleasure so check it out if you have the time. Make sure to keep an eye on my profile as I post updates, release dates and the status of future chapters there. Also thanks for over 50 views on Chapters 1 & 2. It may not seem like much but any view means a lot to me as a new writer. Thanks for reading and I will talk to you guys later :)


	3. Adjusting To New Life

Hello to those that are taking their time to read this and welcome to chapter 3. This chapter will include some small time skips with larger ones being planned for the next couple chapters of the story as well. Again I want to thank everyone who took time in their day to read ANY of my story. I really appreciate all the views and can't wait until my story receives its first official review. With those 73 of words out of the way, please enjoy chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon, but I do own the iPad and iPhone I'm writing this story on.**

**Additional Info Before Reading:**

-There are two types of milk in this world, Moo Moo milk and Cow milk. Moo Moo milk has more nutrients in it, tastes kinda sweet and even has slight healing properties, but is expensive. Cow milk is exactly like the milk here on earth, making it a cheaper alternative to Moo Moo milk.

-Most of the general public doesn't own cars as they tend to be extremely expensive. But there are a lot of buses to ride on for those who don't own a car.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Adjusting To New Life**

Shula was the first to wake up that morning, at first not knowing where she was but quickly realizing that she was still in the hospital. Rubbing a claw on her tired face, began to notice that the room was oddly quiet, with no sound of a crying baby to be heard. Quickly looking over to the bassinet to see...no baby in it. This caused slight hints of fear and worry to manifest in her mind, with the immediate thoughts of someone stealing her child flooding her mind. Quickly sitting up and glancing over at her husband to make sure he was there, in doing so noticed a little orange lump on his chest. Now fully looking at her husband, the fears and worries she had seconds before melted into nothingness, as did her heart.

Ben was dressed in his onesie, soundly sleeping on Kelvin's chest with Kelvin's right claw resting on Ben's back, ensuring that he wouldn't fall off. Shula let out a little "aawwww" as she marveled at probably the cutest that she had ever seen, and at the same time convincing her that she had chosen the right Pokémon to marry. Not having the heart to wake either of them, she decided to take care of some early morning duties such as going to the bathroom, brushing her beak and combing her head feathers. Then leaving the hospital room in an attempt to get a hold of Abby to ask her another half dozen more questions along with ordering a few items for Ben.

**15 Minutes Later...**

Kelvin, slowly waking up, reached over to wake up Shula as he did for the past year and a half, feeling around to realize there was no body to his left. Looking over to where his wife should be, he began to sit up but quickly froze as he felt a small mass on his chest move slightly, looking down to see that Ben was still sleeping on his abdomen. Seeing this made him smile as he slowly got up as he carefully cradled Ben, making his way around the bed and placing his child into the bassinet. Kelvin then did a small search of the hospital room in an attempt to find Shula, but coming up short handed. Kelvin, assuming Shula was out trying to get something or someone, took the downtime to tackle the same early morning duties. Finally exiting the bathroom to find his wife standing a few feet from the bathroom door, just staring at him with a slightly tilted head wearing a big smile.

"Hey honey, when did you wake up thi..." Kelvin being suddenly interrupted by Shula giving him a passionate kiss on the beak lasting about 10 seconds. After the kiss ended Kelvin just looked at his wife, stunned and confused out of his mind.

"W-What was that about?" Kevin asked while blushing a fierce shade of red that blended in with his already red face.

"I'm just glad your my husband" Shula responded while smiling and then proceeded to kiss Kelvin again who wasn't going to fight getting another kiss from his wife. Unknown to both of them, someone was watching their little romantic episode.

"Umm, Mr. and Mrs. Blaze?" an unfamiliar voice asked mid kiss with both of them quickly turning to see a blushing Munchlax wearing a white culinary vest and chef's hat, who was standing in the doorway. "I'm Corey and I have...your breakfast with me...but I can come back later if...you two aren't ready" Corey said in an awkward tone.

"It's quite alright sweetie, you can bring it in" Shula kindly responded although a little bummed due to her kissing session with her husband being cut short.

The munchlax left the doorway and came back into the room but this time pushing a cart cluttered with delicious-looking breakfast food on the top shelf and different types of milk and juices sitting in ice on the bottom shelf. Both Shula and Kelvin traveling back to their bed whilst Cory set up makeshift tables for them, quickly getting all the food on two trays and placing them in front of Kelvin and Shula. Both of them had pre-ordered breakfast yesterday afternoon with Shula getting scrambled eggs, home fries, 2 pieces of bacon and 4 pieces of buttered white toast. With Kelvin getting basically the same thing but having his eggs be sunny side up.

Corey started to ramble off their drink and condiment choices, "Alright, so I have skim, 1%, 2%, or whole Moo Moo milk, apple and orange juice for the choice of drinks. I also have Ketchup, salt and pepper, grape and strawberry jelly if you need them as well."

Hearing all the options the couple began listing what they wanted.

"I think I'll have whole Moo Moo milk, ketchup, salt and 2 little things of grape jelly please." stated Shula.

"And I'll have 2% Moo Moo milk, ketchup and pepper, lots and lots of pepper." Kevin said, emphasizing that he wanted LOTS of pepper.

Corey made quick work of sorting and placing what was requested in front of the parents, making sure that Kelvin received lots of pepper. "If you guys need anything else just buzz one of the nurses or doctors and they'll contact the kitchen, okay?"

"Okay, thank you very much for the food" said Shula gratefully.

"Yeah, this food is really good" Kelvin said who had already begun stuffing himself with Shula looking over at Kelvin who looked back at her.

"What!?" Kelvin said with a full mouth.

His response prompted a little snicker from Shula as she lightly shook her head.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Blaze" said Corey

"See ya Corey" replied Shula, with Kelvin only able to wave due to his beak being full.

With that the Munchlax smiled and waved as he pushed the cart into the hall. The couple indulged in their breakfast, finishing it right before Ben woke up crying, indicating that he also wanted breakfast as well. With Shula once again shifting feathers and finished feeding Ben, right before Dr. Al arrived to give Ben one final check up.

**ONE INFANT CHECK UP LATER...**

"He's all good Mr. and Mrs. Blaze. Abby will be around to give you guys some parting gifts in about a half an hour. So please use that time to gather any belongings that you have around the hospital room as you two, I mean, you three are planned to be discharged at noon."

"Alright"

"Will do"

"Since this is the last time I will be seeing you, I wish the both of you luck in caring for and raising Ben to be strong individual." Dr. Al said as he shook hands with both of the parents.

"Thank you Dr. Al, we'll definitely try to be the best parents that we can be." Shula responded enthusiastically with Kelvin just nodding his head.

"If you two ever have any _major_ questions or concerns, you can always reach me on my office phone or on my email." handing the parents a basic business card with his contact info on it.

"Well, I have to be at a meeting in 5 minutes so I will see you three later down the road."

With Dr. Al waving at the parents, with them waving back.

"See ya doc"

"Bye Dr. Al"

With the Alakazam leaving the hospital room for the last time, Kelvin began to gather their belongings while Shula burped Ben. Finishing their jobs minutes before Abby entered the room with a baby carrier and three extra onesies inside the seat, placing it at the foot of the bed. Kelvin, confused as to why Abby came in with a baby carrier and extra onesies, realized that Shula probably had time to order them at some point. Which would explain her absence from the hospital room earlier that morning.

"There you are Mr. and Mrs. Blaze, I once again wish you luck with your little sleep sponge and want to remind you to enjoy every second of it as it always goes by way too fast."

"Thank you so much Abby, for everything." Shula said gratefully.

"We'll never forget you Abby, thanks a million." Kelvin said with a smile while he shook her hand.

Shortly after Abby left the room, the parents began to get ready to leave. With Kelvin nearly done gathering up their things while Shula got up, placed Ben in the bassinet and started to set up the baby carrier for use. Putting the onesies in a red, yellow and white colored bag that she brought with her when she arrived at the hospital. With everything finally being ready, Shula placed Ben in the baby carrier, strapped him in and lifted it, finding it to be surprisingly light. Kelvin followed her out the door while carrying a backpack and Shula's clearly Blaziken inspired bag. Finding and boarding a semi packed elevator as they slowly made their way to the first floor, where they quickly checked out. After exiting the hospital, Kelvin pulled out his phone and checked the time, sighing in disappointment after seeing it.

"Aw crap, we gotta get moving, the twelve o'clock bus will be at it's stop in 2 minutes." Kelvin said as he began to pick up the pace.

"We should've taken the stairs" Shula frantically said as she also began to pick up the pace, trailing behind Kelvin by a couple yards.

**ONE JOG TO A BUS STOP LATER…**

Kelvin make it to the bus stop right as the bus was about to leave. He quickly approached the bus and promptly tapped on the glass windows on the bus door which got the attention of the bus driver. The door opening to reveal an elderly and annoyed looking Ampharos who was wearing a yellow and black vest that had the 'Amptran' logo on it. Kelvin boarded the bus and approached the fare box as he began to sift around his wallet for 3, $1 bills.

"Are you the last one?" the Ampharos asked in an irritated voice.

"No, my wife is on her...actually she's right there." Kelvin said while pointing to a speed walking Blaziken who quickly boarded the bus.

"That'll be 3 dollars." The Ampharos said in a monotone voice.

Kelvin, failing to find any ones in his wallet, pulled out a 5 and slid it into the machine, knowing full well it didn't give change. Looking around to see what seating was available, Kelvin caught a glimpse of a large Eevee family who was moving and running around in the back of the bus. All the while a Vaporeon and Espeon tried their best to corral them into a semi tight group but not really getting anywhere. Kelvin somehow counted a total of eight little Eevees. The idea of having eight children kinda scared Kelvin as he didn't yet know if he could even handle one.

"Kelvin, I found us a seat." said Shula snapping Kelvin out of his train of thought.

Kelvin looked in the direction of his wife's voice and found her sitting on the window seat located near the middle, right hand side of the bus and joined his wife and son as he sat down. Kelvin continued to look around at the other passengers seeing a Nidoking and Nidoqueen couple sitting in the front left part of the bus. While a lone Luxray was sitting directly behind him with his eyes glued to the passing scenery. It was then Kelvin felt something bump against his leg, looking down to see an Eevee that looked curiously up at Kelvin.

"What kind of Pokémon are you?" the young Eevee asked.

"Umm, I'm a Blaziken."

"Woah, I've never heard of a Pokémon called that before."

"Is that your family back there?" asked Kelvin.

"Yeah, me and my siblings were playing tag until I ran into you." the Eevee said while poking Kelvin's leg, in doing so finding this new creature called a Blazi-thingy to be really warm and began to hug and cuddle Kelvin's leg.

"Woah, your really warm." as the Eevee continued to cuddle, making Kelvin feel extremely weird and uncomfortable.

"Uuuuummmmm..." was all that Kelvin could manage to say but was interrupted by an Espeon who quickly made her way towards the Eevee.

"SYLVIA! Let go of that Pokémon's leg right now!" scolded the Espeon who sounded 110% like an annoyed mother as she tried to pry the Eevee off of Kelvin's leg. The yelling got the attention of everyone on the bus, including the Luxray behind them who had looked to be permanently locked to the window before.

"But he's so warm mommy" whined the Eevee.

The Espeon now looking at Kelvin and said, "I'm so sorry sir, she's usually not like this." Focusing her attention back to her rowdy child and yelled, "SYLVIA, LET GO RIGHT NOW OR YOUR GETTING NO SNACKS TONIGHT!" These words seemed to click in the little Eevee's head as she immediately released her surprisingly strong grip on Kelvin's leg.

Taking her child's paw, the Espeon looked up at Kelvin again, "Once again I'm so sorry sir."

"It's quite alright ma'am" Kelvin reassured as the Espeon made her way to the back of the bus with an Eevee in hand. This event was followed by complete silence on the bus for a good 30 seconds until Shula finally whispering a comment to Kelvin.

"That Eevee was soooo cute" Shula said in a high pitched voice with Kelvin just nodding in reply. He agreed that the little Eevee was cute but was a little bummed that such a little Pokémon caused a huge scene.

The bus began to slow its role as the Ampharos pressed a button to announce the bus stop they were approaching, "Floccesy Road bus stop, Floccesy Road bus stop." said the monotone bus driver over the loudspeaker.

All of a sudden there was a bunch of brown blurs passing Kelvin and Shula's seats with one of them stopping to look up at Kelvin, which made Kelvin look to his left.

"Bye Mr. Warm leg." a familiar Eevee said while waving a paw.

"Bye Sylvia." replied Kelvin who waved back.

The little Eevee made its way to the front of the bus with the Espeon and Vaporeon following close behind. All 8 of the Eevees were now at the front of the bus jumping up and down, eager to finally be home.

"I'm sorry but it's an absolute mess back there." the Vaporeon regrettably told the bus driver who in response let out the longest sigh a bus driving Ampharos could muster.

The large family quickly made their leave as the bus doors quickly closed and was on its way once again. The rest of the bus ride was pretty quiet, with the only real noise being an occasional cough or sneeze. After about 10 more minutes of riding, the Blaziken parents finally heard some good news, "Bisharp Guilfoyle bus stop, Bisharp Guilfoyle bus stop." The bus once again slowed its roll as the couple exited the bus but not before both of them saying thanks to the bus driver, who only replied with a grunt.

Exiting the bus, Kelvin began to think to himself, "What is with this bus driver and his constant sighing and grunting. I wonder who pissed in his Chansey O's?"

Walking slightly uphill for another 10 minutes, they finally reached their destination. It was a deep, single Story home with blue siding met halfway by white painted concrete. The front of the house was decorated with rose bushes and a small porch on the left side of the house that was barely used. To the left of the house was an asphalt walkway that connects to the main sidewalk, which led back to a group of blue painted wooden stairs that went up to the back porch, which basically served as the main entrance. A three yard wide rectangular patch of grass that stretched from the beginning of the main sidewalk to the garden. The backyard expanded a couple feet wider that the size of the house, and also featured a sizable garden in the top left corner which was fenced in by large bushes from the north and west of the garden. While the foundation of an old grange still remained in the top right part of the yard.

After Kelvin unlocked the back porch door, the parents were greeted with the ever familiar scent of their home, which they had been away from for 2 days straight. Walking through the kitchen and into the dining room, plopping down the bags he had been carrying on the dining room table, Kelvin immediately went to the thermostat and set the temperature at a comfortable level for Ben to exist in.

Shula also entering the dining room, placing the baby carrier on the table and began to unstrap Ben. Taking him into her arms and traveled to Ben's new room that was furnished a couple weeks prior to Ben's delivery. The main theme of Ben's room was clearly Blaziken derived as the top portion of the room was painted white, while the trim was painted red with the bottom portion of the wall being yellow. Placing Ben into a similar color themed crib, she began to tuck a tired looking Torchic into bed for an afternoon nap. Quietly tiptoeing to the hallway and gently closing the door behind her in an attempt to not wake up Ben. Entering the living room to find Kelvin sitting on the couch checking the DVR to see if his weekly weather show recorded or not.

Shula then told Kelvin the good news, "So I just put Ben down for a nap, what do you wanna do now?" Shula asked with a seductive smile.

Kelvin looked up from the TV and returned her smile with an even greater one, licking his lips as he eyed Shula up and down.

"I know exactly what to do" Kelvin replied devilishly.

Both of the parents quickly made their way to their bedroom, getting comfy under the covers and...immediately fell asleep. Only to be woken up by the cry of their new baby a half an hour later. Both parents dragged themselves out of bed and tended to Ben's needs may be it be feeding him, changing his diaper, burping him or just playing with him. Days like these soon became the norm, as the parents frequently tended to and cared for the crying Torchic, which also included doing so in the early hours of the morning. The passing days soon turned into weeks, and the weeks into months as Ben slowly began to grow into a more feather covered Torchic who would soon accomplish more than any other Pokémon would've dreamt of.

* * *

GAWD, why is writing dialogue so awkward for me to write? I'm just gonna chock it up to me being an inexperienced writer. Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for taking the time out of your day to read it. I know the whole flow of the story has been really dragging so far and I promise the story will start to pick up in the next few chapters. If you have any advice for me, please leave a review or send me a PM. Make sure to visit or keep an eye on my profile as I post frequent updates on the status of future chapters. I love all of you 1000 and I'm very excited for the future of this story. Talk to you guys in Chapter 4 :)

**(There are slight references to one of my favorite Pokémon fanfics called _Sylvia The Sylveon_, none of which spoil any of the plot or come even close to doing so. _Sylvia The Sylveon_ does NOT belong to me nor has it ever belonged to me. If your any at all interested in reading it, the link can be found directly below this thicc version of text.)**

**Link to _Sylvia The Sylveon_:** s/9013112/1/Sylvia-The-Sylveon


	4. Rough Beginnings

Greetings and welcome to those who have found their way to 4th installment of my story. A couple of things before the chapter gets started. First of all, happy 4th of July to all my American readers out there. Remember to drink responsibly, don't blow your fingers off with fireworks and make sure to enjoy spending time with your family and friends. Second thing, a special shoutout to 'checom127' who is the first person to follow and favorite the story. I really appreciate it homie and I hope you continue to enjoy my story. Third thing, is that I'm really sorry about the late release of this chapter. On top of being busy with work over the summer, I soon realized that chapter 4 would nearly be a whopping 6600 words long, which is my longest chapter as of yet. The fourth and final thing is that the rating for this story is being bumped up to M. This needed to be done as more mature rated content will start to show up in multiple chapters in the near future(but no lemon yet, sorry).

**This** chapter will include, but is not limited to, time skips, a flashback, more childbirth and slightly burnt window curtains. With me clearly being a new writer, I'm always open to new ideas, constructive criticism or just comments about the story in general so feel free to drop a review or PM me if you feel like it. Give me or the story a follow so you'll get updates when I release new chapters as they are gonna start to get real juicy real quick. Alright, less talk, more read, enjoy :)

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon or it's related franchises, but I luckily do own a few pairs of socks.**

**Additional info before reading:**

-This chapter takes place a year, minus a day after the events of Chapter 3

-Key Stones are not needed for Mega Evolution to occur in this story

* * *

**Chapter 4: Rough Beginnings**

Shula carefully entered a heavily populated dining room which was littered with balloons and birthday decorations. She was carrying a decorative paper plate that had a single chocolate cupcake on it. The cupcake featured brown icing with red, white and yellow sprinkles and a candle in the shape of a one sitting in the middle of the swirled icing. Slowly sliding her way past some of Kelvin's relatives as well as some of her friends, Shula finally reached Ben who was sitting in a red high chair. Igniting her wrist, brought the candle's wick close enough to spark a flame, then set the plate on the tray of Ben's high chair. Upon seeing the cupcake, Ben immediately began to smile and bounce around in his seat as he started to giggle and chirp cutely in excitement.

"Hey, can someone get the lights?" Shula asking no one in particular.

The room became silent as the major source of light was terminated, leaving the candle's flame to dimly illuminate the room. With singing soon following from almost everyone. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ben, happy birthday to you. May Arceus bless you, may Arceus bless you, may dear Arceus bless Ben, may Arceus bless you."

"Alright Ben, blow out the candle." instructed Shula while pointing to the candle flame.

Ben took a deep breath and managed to blow out the candle, although most of the blowing was actually spitting. Applause from most of the Pokémon followed his little achievement as the dining room lights were reenergized. As soon as Shula prepped the cupcake for consumption, Ben immediately started to peck away at sugary treat. Kelvin, who was standing right next to his son, started cutting a large chocolate cake into slices for the rest of the family to enjoy. This cake featured similarly colored icing and sprinkles and also featured the words 'Happy Birthday Ben' spelled out with white icing. After Kelvin was done cutting the cake, he made his way to his Blaziken brother and Delphox sister-in-law, started a conversation and joked around with them as he usually did.

Shula, who was also talking to one of the many Pokémon there, looked over at Ben with her jaw about dropping through the floor after seeing him. Ben and his high chair were completely covered in cupcake. He had somehow managed to smear the cupcake all throughout his face, wings and chest as well as all over the high chair tray. "Maybe it wasn't the best idea to give Ben a cupcake, unsupervised." Shula thought to herself. But the more she looked at her messy son, the more she found the situation to be kinda funny and cute as she let out a little giggle.

"Hey Kelvin, get a load of Ben." yelled Shula.

Kelvin looked over at Ben. Seeing his very messy son prompted a smile to form on his beak as he let out a little chuckle. Kelvin's brother Jerry also noticed the messy Torchic and decided to join in the laughter.

"Dang, Ben must really like his sugar." joked Jerry.

"Oh, I'm gonna get the camera." squealed Shula, as she got up and bolted into her and Kelvin's bedroom.

Kelvin watched his wife run into their bedroom and decided to resume his conversation with Jerry.

"So, how is Ethan doing in school?" quizzed Kelvin.

"He actually doing really well so far. He told me that he's made lots of friends, even with some water types." proudly replied Jerry.

"Wow, really? Well at least it's good to see young kids breaking some of the Pokémon type barriers." stated Kelvin with a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, thank Arceus for that. Hey, do you remember how bad it was when we lived in that water type neighborhood as kids?" asked Jerry, lightly nudging Kelvin on the arm.

Kelvin briefly recalled the hell that was his childhood and shivered at all of the awful memories. "Y-yeah, I remember."

Shula moseyed into the dining room wearing a bright smile as she carried a red digital camera. "Alright everyone, get together for a couple pictures." yelled Shula.

Everyone in the room got positioned behind Ben's high chair in preparation for the photo. Shula handed off the camera to her childhood friend, an Infernape named Amy, that showed up to Ben's birthday party only because Shula requested that she do so. After the group of Pokémon got settled for the photo, Amy started a countdown.

"Okay, in 3...2...1" deadpanned Amy, with a few flashes occurring immediately after.

After Shula looked through the photos, satisfied with how they looked, motioned for everyone to return to what they were doing. The group gradually dispersed to their previous places in the home, all except for Jerry and his wife Susie, who were pulled aside by Kelvin and Shula.

"Hey, can we talk to you two for a couple minutes...in private?" requested Kelvin,

almost to the point of whispering.

"Uh, yeah, sure" responded Jerry.

Kelvin and Shula proceeded to lead the Blaziken and Delphox couple to Ben's bedroom, with the door closing behind them. As the parents were discussing a private matter, a Charizard named Sally, who happened to be Ben's appointed godmother, took it upon herself to clean him up.

* * *

**Sally's POV**

_Sally stood over the very messy Torchic, thinking of ways how she could possibly tackle cleaning the messiest child she had ever laid eyes on. "How did you manage to get so messy?" she cutely asked Ben, who responding with a couple confused chirps and a slightly tilted head. She carefully picked Ben up whilst getting cupcake all over her hands as she made her way to the kitchen, making sure to hold him way out in front of her. She placed Ben in the sink with him immediately trying to climb out, knowing all too well what would happen if he stayed in the silver bathtub. Sally gently grabbed Ben with a free hand and began to hose him off using the spray nozzle. The Torchic's efforts to escape the watery torture only increased as Ben now resorted to chirping loudly and even pecking at the thing that was holding him hostage._

_"Ouch! It's not very nice to peck other Pokémon, Ben." scolded the Charizard._

_Ben didn't seem to care as he continued to peck away at Sally's hand while she finished up rinsing him off. Next came a rag and a bar of soap, the most hated part of a bath for Ben. The soap always managed to get into his eyes, making them sting as well as hinder his vision. Sally grabbed the Torchic again, this time with slightly more power and began to thoroughly wash his feathers. Ben was having none of that, as he started to use his sharp talons to assault Sally's hand, causing blood to be drawn._

_Oww! C'mon Ben, knock it off!" growled the Charizard, who gave her assailant a Scary Face to gaze upon._

_The two Pokémon made eye contact, with Ben's wriggling coming to a slow stop. Sally let out a sigh of relief as she continued washing her godchild, with it now happening retaliation free. Rinsing the last of the soap from Ben's feathers, Sally sat him on the counter while she hunted for a towel to dry the soaking Torchic. After drying him off and combing down his feathers with her claws, Sally made her way into the dining room with Torchic in hand, just as the two couples were making their way out of Ben's bedroom._

* * *

Shula looked over to see Sally carrying a sparkling clean Ben which caused her face to light up with amazement. "Woah! Sally, did you clean up Ben?" questioned Shula.

"Yep. Took me a while but I finally got him clean." replied Sally, while handing off the seemingly harmless Torchic to its mother.

"Well thank you so much for going through the hassle of doing that for us. We know all too well how much of a pain it can be to bathe Ben." returned Shula, who looked down at her own hands which featured multiple scars.

"Yeah, he got me pretty good but it's the least I can do after what you two have done for me all these years." thanked Sally.

"Are you three planning to stay for presents?" asked Kelvin, kinda butting in on the current conversation.

"Yeah, we can stay for presents." assured Susie.

"Same here" replied Sally

The parents, happy that the trio could stay, then gathered the remaining Pokémon and made their way to the living room where a large pile of presents and cards awaited to be opened. Making themselves comfortable on the loveseat, they slowly began to open the numerous presents and cards. The large, colorful pile of gifts began to shrink until there were no unopened presents left. The majority of Ben's gifts turned out to be baby toys, clothes, money for future schooling, some food and even a few rare candies. With all of the presents having been opened, many Pokémon began to announce their leave.

"Hold on everyone, we got one more present for Ben to open." announced Kelvin. Reaching behind his back, he pulled out a small red box with a bow on top and held it in front of Ben. "Go ahead Ben, open it" encouraged the Blaziken.

Ben, using his beak, pulled up on the bow which lifted the lid, revealing his gift to everyone. Gasps filled the room with many of the Pokémon recognizing the gift. It was a large, peculiar-looking, cream colored marble with a red and black design at its center. The confused Torchic led go of the lid and pecked a couple times at the marble, prompting some laughter to fill the room.

Kelvin pointed at the marble and looked over at his now one year old son. "It's called a Mega Stone, Ben. You'll get to use it when your older, like this." Kelvin picked up the stone and held it firmly in his hand as he began to concentrate. A bright glow soon enveloped his body with everyone in the room shielding their eyes from the bright light. The light subsided as the group of Pokémon began to gaze at the Mega Blaziken in the room. Everyone found the transformation to be quite fascinating but Ben, however, wasn't so amused. He took one look at the slightly taller and scarier Pokémon and immediately burst into tears.

"K-Kelvin please, y-your scaring Ben." informed Shula, who held Ben close to her chest.

Kelvin looked down at his crying son and realized his mistake, concentrating once again as he began to return to his normal form. The now normal Blaziken returned the stone to the red box, closing it and hiding it away for the foreseeable future. Kelvin returned to his spot on the loveseat and joined Shula in comforting Ben.

"Hey Ben." stated Kelvin

The Torchic removed his head from Shula's chest and looked over at the normal looking Blaziken. Happy to see that his father was no longer a scary monster, began to motion that he wanted Kelvin to hold him. Shula passed Ben off to Kelvin who hugged his son close to him, still feeling really guilty for scaring Ben to the point of tears. Shula then realized that everyone who showed up for the party hadn't left yet. Getting up from her seat, she thanked all of them for coming and wished them a brilliant rest of their day. One by one, pair by pair, the numerous visitors said their goodbyes to the family of three as the house became less and less populated by the minute. After Shula said farewell to the final Pokémon, she made her way back to the living room, to find Kelvin and Ben sleeping soundly on the loveseat.

Although she hated doing so, Shula woke up Kelvin, "Hey sleepy, you know there's a thing called a bed that Pokémon usually do that in, right?" sarcastically greeted Shula.

Kelvin looked up at his wife, meeting her beautiful eyes, "Sorry about that, Ben fell asleep and I guess I kinda followed suit." answered Kelvin while stretching. He stood up and gently picked up Ben, trying his best not to wake him up. The Blaziken looked over at his wife who had her hands on her hips while giving him a suggestive look.

"You know...sleeping isn't the only thing that we have to do in our bed." wooed Shula, giving her husband a seductive wink while walking to their bedroom with her hips swaying back and forth.

Kelvin followed every move her body made, thoroughly admiring all of her curves and attractive features. "Damn I'm lucky." he thought to himself as he made quick work of placing Ben in his cradle and rushed into his bedroom with the door closing behind him.

* * *

Shula shook the excess urine off of the pregnancy test and painfully awaited its result. She hadn't had her period in a little over a month and figured that she may as well spend a couple bucks to make sure that she wasn't pregnant. Only having to wait a couple minutes before seeing the very faint signs of a second red line appearing where it should. Shula closed her eyes in defeat as she waited a couple more minutes, only to be greeted with a much more distinct second red line. Her heart sank into her stomach as she let out a big sigh. Shula wasn't against having another kid, in fact, she wanted a couple more. But the initial fear of being pregnant again stemmed from something that Kelvin had said a couple weeks ago.

**Flashback…**

_An audible crying sound could be heard from Ben's room, half-waking both Kelvin and Shula. It had been the 3rd time that night Ben had woken up his parents with his distress call. Kelvin slowly got up and started to walk around the bed, making the final turn a little too early which led to him stubbing his toe on the wheel post of the bed frame. This caused him to fall and double over in pain as he began to hold his now throbbing foot while cursing under his breath._

_"Wha-what happened?" asked Shula, still half asleep._

_"I stubbed my Arceus forsaken foot on the lousy bed frame again" growled Kelvin as he continued to wince in pain._

_"Do you want me to...t-take care of Ben?" asked Shula who had fallen asleep mid question._

_"No, no, I got it." insisted Kelvin while slowly getting up as he began to limp towards the doorway. He then unintentionally walked face first into the door frame, causing Kelvin to reel back a few feet as held his beak in pain. "You gotta be fu..." Kelvin stopped himself from swearing and instead let out a big sigh and ignited his wrists, giving some light to the pitch black room. "I wish we never would've had a kid" angrily mumbled Kelvin as he felt the room._

_Shula, although half asleep, heard her husband's mumble and sat up in shock of what he had just said. She didn't think that it was even possible for Kelvin to say anything remotely close to wishing that Ben didn't exist. It also didn't make sense to her either as Kelvin seemed to love Ben to the ends of the earth. Shula slowly laid back down, confused and concerned about what the Blaziken had just said._

_After about 20 minutes of comforting Ben as well as changing his diaper, Kelvin returned to bed. Making sure to give himself well enough clearance around the bed frame as to not stub his toe again. He fell back into bed, quickly putting covers over his lower body and immediately fell back to sleep. Shula however, remained wide awake. Her mind still trying to grasp Kelvin's eight word sentence as she began thinking about the future of her marriage, the future of this family, and Ben's future. These thoughts haunted her throughout the night, keeping her up as she shed a couple tears in fear of what the near future held, with sleep finally reaching her about an hour later._

**End Flashback...**

Shula's feared that if Kelvin found out that she was pregnant again, he would pack up and just leave her. She had to figure out some way to hide that she was pregnant, but how could she do that? Kelvin would surely notice the obvious signs that his wife was expecting and telling him after multiple months of being pregnant probably wouldn't go over well either. Another option crossed her mind, an immoral and unjust act that went against everything that she had learned throughout her life. That option was an abortion. The eight letter word sent shivers down her spine as she couldn't even bare the thought of having an unborn child killed and removed from her body like some sort of disease. She pushed the evil train of thought out of her head, realizing that the only proper thing to do was to come clean and tell Kelvin.

Picking up the pregnancy test, she exited the bathroom and made her way to the living room. There she found Kelvin and Ben sitting on the couch, enjoying some early morning cartoons playing on the TV. Gingerly walking up to Kelvin, she presented the pregnancy test to her husband, who took it to get a closer look. The blaziken about jumped right through the roof upon seeing the pair of lines on the pregnancy test. He immediately got up and embraced his slightly shorter wife, lifting her off of the floor about six inches. Shula was beyond confused, unable to truly comprehend what was happening in that moment. She fully expected for Kelvin to flip complete shit after seeing that she was expecting, and now he was hugging her? Kelvin paused his hug and looked down at his wife's who was sporting a face that had 'extremely confused' written all over it, prompting him to pry with a question.

"What's the matter honey? Aren't you happy that we're having another kid?" eagerly asked Kelvin.

"I-I mean yeah, but I thought you didn't want to have another one." mumbled Shula, trailing off at the end of her sentence.

Kelvin's bright expression dissipated, being replaced with a look of concern. "That's crazy Shula, what would give you an idea like that?" questioned Kelvin.

Shula let out a sad sigh, "It was something you said a couple weeks ago and it's been playing back in my head ever since then." explained the Blaziken, trying to contain her emotions as best as she could.

Kelvin was always careful about what he said around his wife and didn't remember saying anything that would deter her from wanting to have another kid. "Well, what did I say?" inquired Kelvin.

Shula started losing her emotional battle with tears starting to form. "You said that you w-wish that we never had a k-kid." stuttered Shula.

Kelvin let go of his wife in shock and took a few steps back. He couldn't believe what he supposedly said to Shula and definitely didn't remember saying anything like that to her either. "W-when did I say that?" fearfully asked Kelvin.

Shula was now on the verge of bursting into tears. "R-remember when you s-s-stubbed your toe on the bed f-frame? You said it right a-after that happened and I unfortunately h-heard it." trembled Shula.

Kelvin did remember stubbing his toe, but couldn't recall if he said anything after that. He also remembered being extremely sleep deprived that night and really pissed that his toe and beak suffered injuries within thirty seconds of each other. All of a sudden it hit Kelvin, Shula had been living in fear of him for the past 2 weeks. That would explain her odd behaviors recently: leaving the room when he entered the same, putting little effort into their daily share of affection and even refusing to talk to him for hours, sometimes entire days. Now Kelvin wanted to cry, not only for his wife but for his marriage, both of which had been suffering for the past couple weeks.

Shula was now crying, tears running down her cheeks and all throughout her feathers. Kelvin took notice and decided to wipe away some of the salty drops of sadness, prompting the crying Blaziken to open her eyes. "It's alright Shula, I'm not gonna leave you." reassured Kelvin.

"Y-you're n-not?" sobbed Shula.

Kelvin just shook his head, "I love you Shula, and I wouldn't trade you, Ben or our second child for the entire word." promised Kelvin, while laying a caring hand on Shula's stomach.

She was beyond overjoyed to hear those words as she hugged her husband while she cried tears of joy, burying her face into Kelvin's chest with his feathers soaking up all of her tears. Kelvin gave his wife a gentle hug with one arm, while kneading her long head feathers with the other. The loud, happy crying of Shula got the attention of Ben who looked over from the TV to see his mother, face deep in his fathers chest. Slowly scooting his way to the end of the couch, hopped down and made his way to Shula. Feeling something small grab her, Shula looked down at her leg, prompting Kelvin to do so also. Both of the parents found Ben hugging Shula's leg with him looking straight up at her with a confused expression.

"Why mommy sad?" question the little Torchic.

Both of the parents' hearts melted into nothingness in reaction to the cuteness overload that was their son. Shula bent down and picked Ben up, who proceeded to then snuggle her neck. The Blaziken couple shared a kiss before sitting down together on the couch, now enjoying the cartoons together as a happy family once again.

* * *

"Shula, I'm gonna need you to push a little harder this time, okay? requested a white masked Dr. Al.

"O-okay" responded Shula through a gritted beak.

Screaming once again filled the room and the adjacent hallway as Shula pushed with all her might. Kelvin was at his wife's side, holding her hand, which could've easily been mistaken for a vice grip. He had no idea how strong Shula actually was, but he guessed that when your giving birth there's really no limits to your grip strength. All of a sudden, the tight grip on his hand became relaxed as the screaming finally died down but was soon replaced with the cry of a newborn Torchic. Sighs of relief filled the room as Dr. Al hoisted up the newly born Torchic.

"Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Blaze, it's another boy!" exclaimed the Alakazam.

A bunch of newborn screenings and some cleanup later...

"So, what name have you two decided on this time?" inquired Dr. Al.

"I think we're gonna go with Lucas Firestorm Blaze, this time." answered Kelvin, with Shula just nodding her head in approval.

Now Ben wasn't present at the hospital when his brother was born. He was back at home, being babysat by a 15 year old Ninetales named Jess. She did have previous experience with babysitting very young Pokémon but nothing could prepare her for what would happen in the next few minutes.

Jess was comfortably laying on the couch, contently watching her favorite TV show, Flareon Feud. As she was adjusting her position on the couch, slight hints of smoke began to fill her sensitive nostrils. The more she sniffed the stronger the scent seemed to become. "What the heck?" Jess said to herself, taking a few more good whiffs, while started to look around the room for Ben but ultimately failing to find him. All of a sudden the smoke detectors went off, beeping fiercely with Jess lowering her also sensitive ears. Getting concerned about her and Ben's safety, she got up and started to frantically searching first in the living room, then in the dining room and finally in the kitchen where she found him using Ember on a kitchen towel that was hanging from a drying rack. Jess looked farther back in the kitchen to see the kitchen table and also some drawers that were charred black and smoking due to Ben's previous assaults. She picked Ben up and placed him behind her, then turned her attention to the burning towel. Carefully grabbing the non-smoldering part, ripped it off of the rack and onto the floor. She then proceeded to put the fire out with her large group of tails, smothering the flame until it went out.

Catching her breath, she turned around to find that Ben had wandered off again. She entered the dining room to find few newly burnt chairs and a slowly growing fire on the window curtains. Now Jess was starting to panic. She quickly grabbed a flower vase, pulling the flowers out and splashed the water on the burning curtains, luckily extinguishing the fire. Jess reluctantly entered the living room to find a scorched coffee table, a burning loveseat and couch. Frantically stamping out and smothering the remaining fires, she looked over to see Ben who had begun to charge up an Ember attack pointed directly at the large flat screen tv. Her heart skipped a beat, fearing the worst if Ben landed that attack. She sped over and positioned herself between Ben and the tv with her arms stretched wide as she started to use Hypnosis, releasing pulses of hypnotic thoughts towards Ben. He fell for the trick, as his eyes started to droop with his body promptly dropping to the floor, out cold. Jess let out a massive sigh of relief and began to survey the damage, realizing that it was way worse than she had originally thought. "Oh Arceus, I am so dead" Jess fearfully said to herself.

* * *

Kelvin exited the bus, thankfully not having to deal with a moody Ampharos for a bus driver this time. He quickly made his way home, excited to pick up Ben so he could finally meet his new baby brother. As he opened the entrance to his home, Kelvin was greeted with the distinct smell of smoke. Entering the kitchen he immediately spotted new singe marks on the kitchen table with more being on the lower kitchen cabinets as well. His inspection was cut short as the sound of soft padding entered the kitchen. Kelvin looked over to see a rough looking Ninetales with frizzled fur, soot marks all throughout her body and bloodshot eyes. Kelvin's jaw dropped as his eyes got huge at seeing the complete mess of a babysitter.

"Wha-what happened to you?" concerningly asked Kelvin.

"Uummm... Ben kinda started setting a bunch of stuff around the house on fire which I had to hunt and quickly put out. I think he did that for a good 10 minutes before I could use Hypnosis on him to calm him down." spoke Jess with her head hung low, feeling ashamed that she couldn't stop Ben from starting any of the fires and the fact that she forcibly put Ben to sleep.

Kelvin wasn't upset at all that any of this happened, but he was a little jealous that Jess knew Hypnosis. _"It'd be real nice to know how to use that move"_ he thought to himself, recalling all the times it would seem that Ben would never stop crying. Kelvin resumed his inspection of the newly burnt parts of the house, making his way into the dining room and eventually into the living room, where he found Ben under a blanket, snoozing away on the couch.

He looked back at Jess, "When did you put him asleep?" quizzed Kelvin while pointing towards Ben.

Jess took a couple seconds to gauge the time, "I think like five or ten minutes before you showed up. Although I'm not really sure."

Kelvin just sighed and signaled for Jess to follow him as he made his way to the kitchen with a very worried Ninetales in tow. Kelvin opened a cabinet and started to rummage through it, eventually pulling out a small potion bottle and placing it on the counter. "Okay Jess, I just want to say that..." Kelvin wassuddebly interrupted by a childish sob coming from Jess. She had collapsed on the floor with paws over her eyes, crying uncontrollably. Never before had anything like this happened to her and the fact that she also forcibly put a kid to sleep made it even worse. Not only did she feel bad for Ben, she feared that Kelvin was going to fire her right then and there.

"P-please don't fire me Mr. Blaze. I-I didn't mean for a-any of this to happen, I s-swear." pleaded Jess.

Kelvin looked down at Jess with a caring smile slowly forming on his beak. Bending down, he pet the crying Ninetails which prompted her to look up at him with tears still running down her cheeks. "I know you feel badly about what happened today and I assure you that it's not your fault. Sometimes events like these happen that are just way beyond anyone's control." These words seemed to calm Jess down a bit as the waterworks started to let up.

"What I was going to say is that I am very impressed by your ability to keep calm in a stressful situation, like what Ben just put you through. I firmly believe that if you weren't the one babysitting today, this house would probably be up in flames with Ben still in it." Kelvin shivering in fear at the last part of his sentence.

Jess slowly got up, with her head still held low. "I r-really thought that you were gonna f-f-fire me after you came home to this." said Jess' trembling voice.

"Your too great of an asset to be fired Jess and I'm not completely sure what me and Shula would do without you." confidently spoke the Blaziken, who was sporting an infectious smile.

That's all that Jess needed to hear as she quickly sped over to Kelvin hugged the hell out of his right leg, which caught him a bit off guard. "Thank you so, so much Mr. Blaze." said the grateful Ninetales, as she enjoyed the warmth of Kelvin's leg.

"It's no problem kiddo." replied Kelvin, who returned her hug with a couple pats on the back.

"Hey, maybe next time you can show me where you keep your fire extinguishers" joked Jess.

Kelvin chuckled at the Ninetales' clever joke as he made his way to the sleeping Torchic with an awakening potion in hand. "I'll show you where they are next time you come up to babysit, alright?" Jess smiled as she followed Kelvin into the living room and started gathering her things.

"Hey Jess, I know we agreed to 25 poke-dollars but I think you deserve a little more for dealing with Ben's shenanigans today." spoke Kelvin, as he reached into his wallet and pulled out a fifty dollar Poké bill and held it in front of Jess.

Jess' jaw dropped upon seeing the priceless piece of paper, "A-Are you sure Mr. Blaze? That's a lot of money for one babysitting."

"You've earned it today. Take it kid." insisted Kelvin, while still continuing to impose the bill on Jess.

"T-thank you Mr. Blaze." taking the bill in her mouth, opening her purse and placing the generous babysitting payment in it. The two Pokémon said their goodbyes with Kelvin getting right to work on waking up his son. Carefully spraying the contents near Ben's beak, he watched the potion do its job as two little sleepy eyes slowly opened.

"Hi Benny" greeted Kelvin.

Ben's eyes got wide as he jumped up from his covers towards his father. "Daddy!"

Kelvin caught Ben and gave him a big hug. "Did you have fun with Jess?"

"Yeah, yeah, we play firefighter." replied Ben while flapping his tiny wings.

Kelvin was shocked that Ben had a name for the 'game' that he was playing with Jess. "Oh, t-that's great Ben but no playing that game when mommy or daddy aren't here, okay?" scolded Kelvin.

"Ok" sadly replied Ben.

Kelvin hated seeing Ben upset but knew that the next piece of news would raise his spirits, "Hey, do you wanna see your new brother?"

Ben gasped, "I have a brudder?"

"Yep, he was born a couple hours ago. Are you ready to go see him?"

Ben furiously nodded his head and with that Kelvin and Ben were off to the bus stop.

...

Kelvin slowly opened the door to Shula's hospital room, revealing the dimly lit and oddly quiet interior. He could've sworn that Lucas was crying up a storm before he left to pick up Ben. Flipping a switch to one set of the ceiling lights, Kelvin quietly entered, noticing that both Shula and Lucas were sound asleep. Ben followed close behind his dad as the pair of Pokémon made their way to the Blaziken's bedside, with Kelvin lightly nudging his wife on the arm. Shula's eyelids jerked open to reveal extremely bloodshot eyes as she quickly sat up in shock at the sudden presence of another Pokémon in the room. Her slightly scared demeanor soon dissipated into a calm one as she recognized the Pokémon to be her husband.

"Hi honey" croaked Shula.

"Hey sweetie" softly replied Kelvin, as he went in for a kiss, meeting his wife's beak for a couple seconds. It was then that he felt Ben tug at his leg feathers, prompting him to look down at his son.

"I see mommy?" cutely requested Ben, who was looking up at his tall dad.

"Of course you can." replied Kelvin, picking up the Torchic and placing him on Shula's lap. Ben proceeded to hug his mother closely as he had not seen her for a couple days. Shula returned the hug and kissed his forehead.

She then looked up and Kelvin and asked, "So, was our Benny good for Jess?"

Ben opened his beak before his dad could answer, "Jess an me pway firefighter" interrupted the Torchic.

Shula looked back up at Kelvin with a slightly confused look on her face, "What's firefighter?" curiously asked the Blaziken.

Kelvin sighed as a drop of sweat formed behind his head, "I'll...tell you about it later."

Shula found her husband's response to be quite worrying, but pushed it to the back of her mind anyway. She then remembered why her son was present at the hospital in the first place.

"Hey Ben, are you ready to see your new brother?" excitedly asked Shula.

"Ya, ya." squealed Ben while jumping up and down.

Kelvin paced over to the bassinet, gently picking up his day-old son and transferred the Torchic to his wife's caring embrace. Lucas was currently wearing a familiar looking orange onesie that Ben swore he had seen some place before. The two brothers locked eyes and began to look each other over. The older Torchic eventually gave the infant a disgusted look and glanced up at Shula.

"Why he so pink?" curiously asked Ben.

Both of the parents laughed at the Torchic's silly remark, with Ben confused as to what was so funny.

...

Shula and Lucas came home the next day, with the family slowly adjusting to a second child. Ben quickly took a liking to his new brother. Constantly keeping him company and playing with him daily, much to the relief of the parents. Ben's constant presence with Lucas allowed them to do other things around the house such as general cleanup, laundry and fireproofing some of the furniture. After about a week Ben soon realized that having a new brother isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Only taking taking a couple nights of loud crying from Lucas to completely change his view on the new Torchic. Not only did he seem to cry constantly, he also managed to barf on Ben a couple times which would always lead to a bath for the older Torchic. Nearly 3 years pass with Ben still continuing to adjust to the crying, barf machine that was his baby brother, but that wasn't the only thing he would have to get used to. The end of August had quickly crept up on Ben, who was just of the age to start attending Preschool.

* * *

That's all from this chapter folks. I'd like to thank everyone who has made it this far into my story and make sure to stay tuned, as the future of this story is looking up. A friendly reminder to the people reading this that I frequently post and update the status and release dates of the chapters that I'm currently writing on my profile page. Follow me or the story to get notifications on when a new chapter goes live. Everyone have an awesome rest of your day and I will talk to you peeps in Chapter 5 :D


	5. The First Day

To all of my fellow humans with eyes, fingers and an electronic device, I welcome and bring you Chapter 5. I am proud to announce that this story has reached over 175 views which is absolutely amazing. Just wanted to say thank you to all the readers out there, where ever you read this from and I hope you continue to enjoy my story. Now that that stuff is out of the way, **this** chapter will include: a stolen piece of bacon, a miniature bus driver, a pair of white skinny legs and a group of bushes. You may now enjoy Chapter 5 :)

**DISCLAIMER: Not owning Pokémon during the whole #BringBackTheNationaldex thing is pretty sweet.**

**Additional Info Before Reading:**

-A **Pursuit** attack is a dark type move that deals double it's normal damage to Pokémon who are switching out of battle/ fleeing.

* * *

**Chapter 5: ****The First Day**

The sun began its accent on a cool Monday morning with the birds of the sky being wide awake, happily singing their songs and flying about. Our young protagonist however, was comfortably sleeping in his Torchic themed bed, currently in the middle of a pleasant dream that involved an edible house made of chocolate, sugar cookies and bacon. He was happily eating away at a delicious chocolate couch while taking occasional bites of the greasy bacon floor, washing it all down with chocolate Moo Moo Milk that spewed from the sink. Ben was convinced that nothing could ruin this perfect dream...but the blinding light that pierced through his eyelids proved him otherwise. The Torchic winced at the bright light and dug his head under an orange pillow, a little pissed that the best dream in the world had ended prematurely. He then felt someone sit on the end of his bed as a talon started patting him on the back, knowing the gentle touch to be his mother's.

"Morning sleepyhead." sang Shula.

Ben replied with a grunt from under his pillow, clearly not in the mood to be getting up this early in the morning.

"Are you ready to go to school?"

"I'm too sleepy for school." mumbled the Torchic from under his pillow.

Shula always came prepared with a 'Plan B' when it came to dealing with her kids and knew that her oldest couldn't resist it. "Alright. I'll let you sleep for 15 more minutes, but you might miss your _favorite breakfast_."

An orange head immediately popped out from under the pillow and eagerly looked at its mother, who was wearing a big smile. It was then that Ben began to smell hints of eggs, bacon and toast, all components of his favorite breakfast of all time. Without speaking another word, he scrambled out of bed and dashed into the bathroom to take care of some early morning business. After finishing, the Torchic started towards to the dining room, only to be scooped up by Shula who took him back into his room.

"I want down! I want down!" demanded Ben, while trying his best to free himself from his mother's grip.

"I'll put you down in a second. But first, your feathers need combed." addressed the Blaziken, as she picked up a brush.

"My feathers are fine." angrily chirped the Torchic, who continued in his attempts to break free.

Shula just raised a brow and lifted her son up to the mirror in the room, revealing a very scruffy looking Pokémon. Ben stopped the squirming and gazed at his reflection, eventually causing him to start giggling. "I look like a Rufflet." joked the Torchic.

"You do look like a Rufflet." chimed Shula, gently combing her son's feathers. Once satisfied with his appearance, she carried him into the dining room and slid the Torchic into his booster seat. The Blaziken then walked into the kitchen, coming back out a few minutes later holding a small plate of food and a sippy cup filled with Moo Moo Milk. She placed them both in front of Ben and tied a cute, orange bib around his neck.

"Thank you mommy." chirped the Torchic.

"Your welcome Benny." Shula then kissed the top of her son's head and made her way back into the kitchen.

The Torchic happily began to chow down on his breakfast, while taking occasional sips of milk. After taking a few more bites, he noticed his dad sleepily traverse through the dining room and into the kitchen. Shula also took notice of the tired looking Blaziken and decided to wake him up a bit. Prancing over to Kelvin, she gave him an intense kiss on the beak. The Torchic looked up from his food and into the kitchen to see his parents eating each other's beaks again. He witnessed them do that all the time and never really knew why they did it, ultimately shrugging it off and refocusing on his food. The couple finished their kiss with both of the Blazikens staring into each other's eyes.

"Morning honey." cooed Shula, making her way back to the sizzling food.

"M-mor-morning...Sh-Shula." stuttered Kelvin, still recovering from one hell of a kiss. He would certainly be on the lookout for more kisses like that in the near future.

"Your breakfast is almost ready. "I'll bring it out to you when it's done."

"Alright, sounds good." As Kelvin entered the dining room he found his son struggling to take a bite out of his piece of bacon. He motioned for him to let go and proceeded to rip the bacon into little bite sized pieces. In the process of ripping, Kelvin managed to sneak a little piece into his mouth, which unfortunately didn't go unnoticed.

"Hey, you stole my bacon!" called out Ben.

The Blaziken froze at the realization that he had been caught, quickly making the decision to play around with his son a bit, "What?! I didn't steal your bacon." Talking as if he had a full beak.

"Yes you did, I seen you do it!" retorted Ben, angrily flapping his tiny wings.

It was then that Shula entered the room carrying two more plates of food, curious as to what all the yelling was about. "What's goin' on in here?" quizzed the Blaziken.

"Ben thinks he saw me eat a piece of his bacon." relayed Kelvin, taking a seat at the table.

"But you did! He did do it mommy!" cried Ben, who was on the verge of tears.

Shula just sighed as she shook her head. Kelvin would always playfully tease Ben, so this was nothing new to her. "Alright you two thats enough. There will be no arguing at my table." commanded Shula, as she placed one plate in front of Kelvin and the other in front of her chair.

After fetching two cups of regular milk and some silverware, she sat down at the table and the family gave thanks to Arceus for their meal. Kelvin started off his breakfast by tearing a strip of his bacon into little bite sized pieces and placing them on Ben's plate. This generous act made the Torchic giddy beyond all belief as he immediately started chomping down on the gifted bacon bits. Quickly finishing the rest of his breakfast, Ben managed to slide out of his booster seat and bolt into the back of the kitchen where his backpack was located.

Shula watched her son exit the dining room, prompting memories of her first year of school to flood her mind. Reminiscing on the past caused a feeling of worry to overcome her, slightly scared that something bad might happen to Ben. "Hey K-Kelvin." started Shula

The Blaziken looked up at his wife as he swallowed the last of his peppery egg, "Yeah Shula?"

"I...I don't think we should send Ben to school...just yet."

Kelvin placed his silverware on the table and gave Shula a completely confused expression. "Well...why not? He is old enough and we need to let him start living his life. We can't keep him cooped up in here forever."

"I know, I know. I'm just worried that something bad is gonna happen to him, that's all." Shula really didn't want any of her kids going through what she had to go through when she was a kid.

"It's his first day of preschool Shula. What's the worst that could possibly happen?"

The worried Blaziken could think of a couple things, all of them being worst case scenarios for her son. A cry soon became audible in the dining room, alerting the parents that Lucas had awoken from his slumber. "Welp, the quiet was nice while it lasted." deadpanned Kelvin, who had just finished up his breakfast.

Shula sighed, "I'll go see what he needs." spoke the annoyed Blaziken, who would love to go just one day without a crying child in her house. And with that, she got out of her seat and went to tend to Lucas. Kelvin took the liberty of clearing off the table, finding Ben, and walking him to the bus stop.

**...**

The two Pokémon arrived at their destination right on time with a bus soon making its presence known as it came to a slow, screeched halt. Both doors swung open to reveal a new creature that Ben had never seen before. This Pokémon, which happened to be a Zoroark, greeted the Torchic with a warm, toothy smile. Ben stared at the Pokémon for a good ten seconds, finding it to look quite intimidating as he promptly hid behind Kelvin's leg. The Blaziken looked at his frightened son and bent down to comfort him. "Hey, it's alright Ben. It's only a Zoroark, she won't bite."

The bus driver also noticed the scared Torchic and decided to perform an illusion to put his mind at ease. Ben looked back up at the Pokémon and, to his surprise, it was now a Blaziken that looked a whole lot like Shula. "Its mommy." blurted the Torchic, using a foot to point at the look-alike.

Kelvin also looked up to see what his son was talking about, confused at first as to why his wife was driving a school bus. He then remembered who the original bus driver was and chose to play along with the Zoroark's illusion. "Alright, go see mommy." encouraged the Blaziken, using a talon to scoot Ben towards the bus.

The little Pokémon used a tiny wing to wave goodbye to his dad, "Bye daddy."

The Blaziken returned his son's cute wave with his own, "Bye Ben. Have a good first day of school."

The Torchic happily boarded the bus and immediately went to hug his 'mom', cuddling and snuggling the Blaziken's feathery leg. The cloaked Zoroark looked down at the Pokémon and started becoming a bit jealous, wishing that her kid would love her as much as this Torchic loved his 'mom'. Reaching down with a talon, she brought his gaze upward in order to get his attention. "Can you sit in one of the seats?" gently asked the Blaziken.

Ben thought that his mom's voice sounded a little different than usual but did as he was told. Making his way to the front right seat of the bus, he quickly got glued to the window as houses and other scenery started passing by. A while after, the Torchic began to hear whispering from the seat across from him, leading him to look over and spot an Eevee and what seemed to be a miniature version of that Zoroark creature that he had seen earlier. Not thinking much of the two Pokémon, he returned to his window gazing. As the bus neared it's final stop, Ben felt something soft tap him on the back, turning to see the miniature bus driver standing in the aisle.

"Hey little Torchic? You might wanna move." recommended the Pokémon.

"Why?" answered Ben, becoming confused as to why he might have to give up his awesome spot on the bus. He would soon learn the answer as the bus slowed its roll as it approached the final stop. The little black Pokémon retreated back into his seat right as the bus doors opened for a Squirtle who made a beeline for his favorite spot on the bus. He stopped when he saw that a Torchic had already stolen _his_ seat, becoming determined not to lose it to a tiny fire type.

"Get the heck out of my seat you little pipsqueak." harshly demanded the Squirtle.

Ben looked up at the slightly older, turtle-like Pokémon and began to tremble, eventually gathering enough courage to respond. "B-but, I was here f-f-first."

That was not the response the Squirtle wanted to hear. He jumped up on the seat, quickly advancing on the Torchic as he grabbed his chest feathers and lifted him up. Bringing him a few inches from his face, he held the Pokémon over the aisle. Ben started to panic and flailed for his life, but only caused more pain as he could feel the feathers being pulled from his body.

"You will stay out of my seat or else." threatened the Squirtle, who then released his grip on the Pokémon.

Ben painfully landed on his side, with tears immediately filling his eyes. Looking down at his chest he managed to notice a slight bald spot where he had been grabbed.

The Squirtle made himself comfortable on the seat and noticed a bunch of orange feathers that were still stuck to his hand, knowing exactly what to do with them. "Here, you forgot these." scowled the Pokémon, who leaned over and sprinkled them over the Torchic's head.

Ben watched as his feathers slowly floated down around him, leading him to quietly cry in the fetal position on the floor. This caught the attention of the pair of Pokémon Ben had seen earlier, with the mini bus driver jumping down from his seat to check on him.

"Hey Torchic, are you alright?"

Ben sat up to see who was talking to him, immediately turning his gaze to the floor before sniffling and slowly shaking his head.

"Well...do you wanna sit with us?"

The Torchic looked back up at the Pokémon in disbelief as he started to wonder why this mini bus driver was being so nice to him. Gradually getting up, he picked up his backpack that had fallen off and uneasily made his way to the end of the seat, where he continued to stare at the floor.

Both of the other Pokémon could still tell that the Torchic was still feeling down about what had just happened and whispered amongst themselves a bit. The Eevee then made his way around his friend and wrapped his forelegs around the depressed Pokémon, giving him a gentle squeeze.

This hug took Ben by surprise as he felt the soft Pokémon embrace him for a few seconds. After it ended, the Torchic looked at the Pokémon, very confused. "Why did you hug me?" curiously asked Ben.

"You needed a hug." beamed the Eevee.

Ben didn't know that he _needed_ a hug but he did feel a bit better now compared to a few minutes ago. It was then he remembered a question that had been bouncing around in his head ever since he first noticed the pair. Looking at the mini bus driver he asked, "What are you?"

The Pokémon then realized that he hadn't introduced himself to the Torchic. "Oh, sorry. My name is Zack. I'm a Zorua."

"Yeah, and I'm Blake, an Eevee. It's nice to meet you." greeted the Pokémon, who extended a paw for a 'hand' shake.

Using his foot, Ben shook the Eevee's soft paw, with a smile gradually returning to the Torchic's beak. "I'm Ben. It's nice to meet you too."

The trio's little introduction would be cut short as the bus finally arrived at the school, prompting the bus driver to announce that it was time for everyone to exit the bus. "Alright kiddos, everyone have a good first day of school."

All at once, the Pokémon got up from their seats and began making their way to the door. The Squirtle was the first to make for the exit, but not before menacingly staring down the Torchic. Ben backed up against Zack as far as he could, fearful that the Pokémon might do something else to steal more of his feathers. Blake noticed the Squirtle's glare and returned it by barring his sharp teeth and growling at him. This show of aggression earned the Eevee a smirk from the Water type, as he finally exited the bus. Ben breathed a heavy sigh of relief, grateful that nothing else had happened to him.

While the trio waited for an opening in the flow of students in the aisle, Blake took it upon himself to give Ben a little piece of advice. "Hey Ben? Try not to be scared of that meanie. Jake has been a bully since way back in Preschool so watch out for him, okay?"

The Torchic nodded his head, noticing right after that they were the last ones left on the bus. Jumping down from his seat, he quickly got passed by Zack who exchanged a few words with the bus driver before hopping down the stairs. The Torchic also made his way to the door, but spotted a familiar black, fur-covered Pokémon sitting in the driver's seat. He looked up to see that Zoroark creature in the same spot that his 'mom' was sitting in not 15 minutes ago. This left him completely dumbfounded, with his beak hanging wide open as he stared at the bus driver in shock. The Zoroark gave the Torchic a soft wink, with Blake pushing Ben towards the stairs in an attempt to get him to move.

**...**

Ben followed the pair into a set of double doors, finding himself in a long, bright hallway that was filled with numerous types of different Pokémon. While taking in all the new sights and smells of the school, he spotted a bunch of colorful posters on the walls that welcomed new and returning students. Ben was so engrossed in the decor that he failed watch where he was going, leading him to run into a pair of white, skinny legs. Stumbling backwards, he landed on his rear and look up to see who he had run into.

The Pokémon turned to see who had just bumped into her, only to find an adorable Torchic sitting on the ground. "Well hello there ya little cutie." bubbled the Gardevoir, who manually helped the Torchic get back on its feet. "I'm Mrs. Clair, what would your name be?"

Ben had no idea what kind of Pokémon was talking to him, but managed to open his beak. "My name is Ben Blaze."

"Well Ben Blaze, do you know what grade your going into?"

The Torchic had no idea what a 'grade' was and just shrugged his wings.

The Gardevoir sighed internally and reached out to the open air with a clipboard quickly meeting her hand. "Alright, lets see here." muttering to herself as she thoroughly scanned the list of names that were present on the clipboard. Mrs. Clair eventually found the name she was hunting for and glanced back down at the Torchic. "Well, it looks like you'll be in my Preschool class this year."

Her sentence had fallen on deaf ears as Ben had just spotted both of his bus buddies who were located deep in the long hallway. Determined to be with them he darted into the large crowd of Pokémon, gradually squeezing and weaving his way through the crowded corridor. The Torchic had almost reached them but was suddenly stopped in his tracks as a bluish glow surrounded his body. He felt himself become weightless as he was slowly lifted up into the air and hovered in place for a few seconds. _(This of course caught the attention of many Pokémon in the hall with some responding with "he's floating in mid air!" and "how does he do that?" An Elgyem happened to notice the group's amazement at seeing a floating Pokémon for the first time and just rolled his eyes before going back to whatever he was doing.)_ Ben was enjoying every second of being airborne. It had always been a dream of his to fly ever since he was a baby and here he was, floating right into the hands of Mrs. Clair who was also enveloped in the same bluish glow.

"Again, again!" declared the Torchic, who was more than ready to have the whole thing happen all over again.

The Pokémon held Ben out in front of herself and gave him an unamused look, hinting that he was in big trouble. "Where's was Ben going?" sternly asked Mrs. Clair.

"I go see Zack the Zorua and Blake the Eevee?" innocently responded Ben, who couldn't help but feel that he was in trouble for something.

The Gardevoir knew both of the Pokémon he was talking about due to them being previous students of her's. "I'm sorry Ben but they're going into first grade. Your only in Preschool." regretfully informed Mrs. Clair, as she gently placed the Torchic back on the floor. "And you can't be running off like that." scolded the Gardevoir as she wagged her finger at Ben. "You might have gotten hurt, and we don't want that. Do we?"

"No" sadly muttered Ben as he shook his head. He thought this Pokémon acted a lot like his mom with all the scolding and halting that she had done already.

"Okay, very good." Mrs. Clair then guided Ben over to an empty spot on a white wooden bench which was placed against a wall. "Now I'm gonna have you sit here until the rest of the class shows up. Alright?"

The Torchic reluctantly did as he was told and sat down in the designated seat, but couldn't help but feel that this was meant to be a timeout. On the bright side though, the bench did provide an extra foot and a half of visibility, allowing Ben to relocate them in no time. He gazed at the pair of Pokémon as they talked and laughed together, making him wish that he too was going into 1st grade. But just like everything else today, it would be cut short. A loud voice suddenly announced that students in grades 1-4 could travel to their classrooms, prompting the mass of Pokémon to slowly creep up the hallway. All the while, Ben watched as Zack and Blake walked farther and farther away from him, eventually disappearing and leaving him all alone.

**...**

After waiting for what seemed like forever, Ben finally heard Mrs. Clair tell her students to form a straight line in front of her. Jumping down from the bench he made his way over to the back of the line, which he thought looked more like a squiggle than a line.

After making sure she had all of her students, the Gardevoir led her class to their room which was at the very end of the long hallway. The next few hours would be filled with a few basic Preschool level activities such as learning about some of the different types of Pokémon and counting to 10. All throughout the morning Ben kept mostly to himself, being way too shy to approach or talk to any of the other Pokémon. Although he stayed quiet he did manage to learn the names of most of the Pokémon that were in his class such as Smoochum, Snivy, Growlithe, Tyrogue, Piplup, Magby and Pichu. It eventually became lunchtime, with Ben's class walking over to the school cafeteria which doubled as the gymnasium.

**ONE NUTRITIOUS MEAL LATER...**

After lunch, recess took place, with numerous Pokémon quickly spilling out of the cafeteria and into the school parking lot. Ben gazed over the entire recess area which was filled with numerous Pokémon, most of whom were already happily running around and playing with one another. Others conversed in small groups while some simply enjoyed the nice, sunny weather. It was then that Ben realized that Zack or Blake could be out here, prompting him to start scanning the large area. _(He would've manually searched around by himself, but Mrs. Clair informed her students before they came out there that they were to play in small space around her so she could keep an eye on everyone.)_ The longer he searched, the more depressed he became as he gradually began to run out of parking lot to scan. Just as he about to give up, Ben noticed a pair of lone, moving objects out of the left corner of his eye. Quickly looking over to spot a black and brown Pokémon that closely resembled his friends, with both of them disappearing behind a group of bushes. The Torchic wanted nothing more than bolt over there and play with them right now, but remembered what had happened earlier that morning. He looked back at Mrs. Clair who was currently preoccupied with trying to pry a kissing Smoochum off of a Growlithe. Ben knew that if he didn't go now, he would never get the chance to play with either of them today. He ultimately decided to go against his teacher's best wishes and ran over to the area, completely unaware that someone had watched him run off. Reaching the place of interest, he rounded the corner to find...no one, not a single soul. While catching his breath he started to wonder where Zack and Blake could've possibly gone off to. He eventually became discouraged and started to leave, stopping in his tracks after hearing some rustling in the nearby bushes. Ben held his breath in the hopes that it might be a Zorua or Eevee, but he was quickly let down once again.

An Oshawott emerged from the shrubbery and immediately took notice of the little Pokémon. He guessed that the Torchic was in Preschool based on its small size alone, prompting him to ask. "Why are you down here?"

Ben then realized that this Pokémon could be of some help. "Maybe he saw Zack or Blake around here." he thought to himself. "Hi, I'm looking for a Zorua and Eevee. Did you see them?" asked the Torchic.

The Oshawott put his forearm to his chin as he thought for a second, ultimately shaking his head 'no'.

The Torchic dropped his head in disappointment, "Oh, okay." muttered Ben, who slowly began the long walk back to his class.

The Water type couldn't help but feel a little bad for the Pokémon and decided to help him out a bit. "Hey! WAIT!" called out the Oshawott, while jogging up to the Torchic. "I'll help you find them."

The news made Ben's mood do a complete 180 as he looked up at the Pokémon in joyful disbelief. "Really, you will?"

"Yeah. And after, maybe we can pla-"

"Who are you talking to Vince?" interrupted a voice from the bushes, with it's owner soon making itself visible.

Ben immediately recognized the voice and froze in place upon seeing the Squirtle, knowing him to be the exact same one from the bus.

Jake spotted the petrified Pokémon next to his friend and quickly realized who it was. "Oh, its you." snarled the Squirtle, who began to walk towards the Torchic.

Ben, not wanting to get hurt again, turned on a dime and started running as fast as he could.

Jake stopped and smirked at the Pokémon's futile attempt to escape, knowing that someone was waiting in the bushes just for such an event to take place. "Stop him Tyler." ordered the Squirtle. The command prompted a Buizel to burst out of the bushes in front of the Torchic and land a hard hitting Pursuit attack. This sent Ben rag dolling past Vince and finally rest right in front of Jake's feet. He looked down upon the Torchic who was now laying on the ground, doubled over and groaning in pain from the attack.

"Your weak." scoffed the Squirtle. "And you'll always be weak."

Ben stopped his groaning after hearing the insult. He didn't mind loosing the seat on the bus, or that Jake ripped out most of his chest feathers, but he did mind being called 'weak'. Adrenaline and anger started coursing through his veins. Unable to contain his emotions, he jumped up and bit the Squirtle's arm as hard as he could.

Jake yelped in pain and started shaking his arm with the Torchic firmly attached. "Ow, oww, get him off, get him OFF!" cried the Squirtle.

Vince and Tyler rushed over, trying everything they could to get the Pokémon off of their friend. The Buizel eventually resorted to using Water Gun, hosing down the Torchic until he finally let go.

Ben landed on the asphalt, soaking wet and too weak too move a single muscle. "That was so much worse than getting a bath." he thought to himself.

Jake examined the 'V' shaped bite mark on his arm and noticed the incapacitated Pokémon. Resentment towards the Torchic and thoughts of revenge filled his mind as he made his way over. He picked up Ben just like he did on the bus and drew back his fist with the full intent to beat the crap out of the Pokémon.

Ben watched in horror as the Squirtle pulled back his fist, tightly shutting his eyes in preparation for the impending pain. About 5 seconds passed without a punch being landed, prompting him to slowly open his eyelids and see a blue fist just inches away from his face. It seemed to be slowly backing away from him, with a green vine tightly wrapped around the Squirlte's wrist.

Jake turned to see who had grabbed on to him, making eye contact with a small Snivy who had his other vine out and ready for an attack.

"Put him down!" shouted the Snivy, angrily stamping a foot on the ground.

"What are you gonna do if I don't?" mocked Jake, who really wasn't prepared for what was about to happen next.

The Snivy wasted no time in launching his other vine right at the Squirtle's face, whipping him right across the cheek.

This caused Jake to drop Ben and reel back a few feet in pain, while both vines wrapped around his shell. He then felt himself get quickly hoisted up in the air, flailing his arms and legs as he screamed like a little girl.

Vince and Tyler watched as the Squirtle was helplessly lifted about a dozen feet above the parking lot, with both of them slowly backpedaling away from the Torchic.

"Put me down you little weed!" roared Jake, who apparently had the balls to insult the very Pokémon that was holding him multiple feet in the air.

A devilish smile started growing on the Snivy's face, knowing exactly how to 'put him down'. "As you wish" called back the Pokémon, who pulled back and flung the Squirtle directly at his partners in crime. The three Pokémon made painful contact, resulting in all of them getting knocked out cold.

The Snivy then rushed over to the Torchic to make sure he wasn't hurt. "Are you okay?" worryingly asked the Pokémon.

Ben had watched the entire ordeal play out and was still in awe that one little Pokémon could take out all three of those bullies. "Uh huh, I'm just a little wet" weakly responded the Torchic.

"Can you get up?"

"I'll try..." Ben focused as hard as he could, somehow mustering enough energy to stand on his two wobbly legs. The Snivy stood beside the Torchic, allowing Ben to lean on him for extra support as they started walking.

"I'm Elliott, by the way." greeted the Grass type.

"I'm Ben. Thanks for saving me." genuinely replied the Torchic.

The Snivy beamed in reply, "Anything for a friend."

Ben stopped in his tracks after hearing that sentence, he had never had a friend before. He did have Zack and Blake, but he never found them after loosing them this morning, and would probably only see them before and after school "We're friends?" spoke the Torchic.

"Of course." assured Elliott. "I did just save your feathery butt back there. So how can we not be friends?"

Ben didn't know how to respond other than by giving the Snivy a heartfelt hug, which Elliott happily returned. After releasing his grip, Ben suddenly felt much better now. The sun had mostly dried him off, allowing him to confidently stand on his own.

Elliott took note of this and smiled. "Hey, your not wobbling."

Ben looked down at his legs and they were indeed, not wobbling. "I guess I'm better now." assumed the Torchic.

"Oh, oh, do you wanna race?" excitedly asked Elliott, who was jumping up and down.

Ben nodded his head in agreement, "Where to?"

"We can race back to our class, and the loser is a rotten Exeggute for the rest of the school day." explained Elliott.

The two Pokémon positioned themselves behind a yellow parking line with Elliot beginning a countdown. "Okay, we go on the count of three. Ready? One...Two...Three, GOOOOO!"

* * *

Well, did you enjoy Chapter 5? I hope so, because it's only gonna get better from here. I'm currently throwing around the idea of changing the title from what it currently is now, to **'The Life of A Torchic'**. It just sounds so much cooler and it also does a better job of describing the entirety of the story. I also plan to eventually update/revise the older chapters of the story once a few more newer chapters have been released. If your enjoying the story, make sure to give it a follow so you get email notifications when a new chapter goes live. Also keep an eye on my profile as i tend to post the status and release dates of future chapters there. Thank you all for giving this a read and I'll talk to you people in Chapter 6 :)


	6. Some Friendly Competition

Welcome back and a friendly hello from the _two o'clock in the morning_ version of me. Chapter 6 will be the first chapter to(almost) fully utilize the mature rating on this story as there will be some light lemons, language and of course we can't forget some innuendo. **This** chapter will also include a sleeping mat fortress, a closed bedroom door, this story's very first Pokémon battle and a half eaten cup of pudding. You may now enjoy Chapter 6.

**DISCLAIMER: I'm clearly not rich enough to own Pokémon or it's characters.**

**Additional Info Before Reading:**

-Pokémon in this story **can** learn more than 4 moves at a time because… why not?

* * *

**Chapter 6: Some Friendly Competition**

"How did you... run so fast." asked the panting Torchic, a little surprised that he was beaten to their class.

Elliott smiled while he also caught his breath, "I dunno... but I know one thing... you're a rotten Exeggcute."

Ben didn't mind the playful nickname, as his dad would occasionally give him silly ones on a daily basis such as 'Ben The Hen' or 'Feather Brain'. It was then a tall, familiar figure approached the duo from behind, casting a shadow on both of the Pokémon. Ben noticed that it suddenly became very shady on this sunny and cloudless day, which kinda confused him. He then felt something brush up against his back, turning to see a frilly, white skirt thing that belonged to a grumpy looking Gardevoir with crossed arms. A feeling of deep worry overcame Ben, who could already tell that him and Elliott were in deep trouble.

"And where have you two been?" sternly asked Mrs. Clair.

Both pokemon sheepishly dropped their heads in the realization of being caught, with neither of them able to say a word. Ben never liked being in trouble at home, and could already tell he wouldn't like it any better at school.

Mrs. Clair quickly became impatient with the young pair of Pokémon. "Hey boys, If I don't get an answer right now, both of you will be in timeout all during nap time."

Ben started to tear up after hearing the potential punishment, not wanting to be in this much trouble on his first day of school.

Elliott looked over to see tears falling down Ben's face. He hated seeing others sad, especially when they were his friends and decided to throw himself under the bus.

It had quickly become apparent to their teacher that she wasn't going to get an answer any time soon. "Alright, I guess it's a timeout for both of yo-"

"Teacher!" interrupted Elliott, pausing a few seconds before continuing. "I... I ran away from the class. Ben told me not to, but I didn't listen. He followed me so I didn't get hurt."

Ben stopped the waterworks and looked over at Elliott in disbelief that he would lie for him, with the Snivy giving him a half smile.

Mrs. Clair crouched down to their level and met eye to eye with the Torchic, "Ben, is this true?"

A short moment passed before Ben eventually answered with a slow nod.

"Well. Elliott, I'm proud that you told the truth, but the two of you still have to learn not to run off. So, once we get back to the classroom, the both of you will be in timeout for just a little while. Okay?"

"Yes Mrs. C." simultaneously responded the duo, still a little bummed that their fun little race ended in a punishment.

Recess ended soon after their sentencing, with all of the classes making their way back into the building and into their respective classrooms. Mrs. Clair stationed the two Pokémon in chairs at the opposite ends of a long table and gave them both a short 10 minute time out. Ben and Elliott anxiously watched the clock as their other classmates got sleeping mats in preparation for nap time.

**5 MINUTES LATER...**

Everything had been going smoothly for the first half of their punishment, that is, until Elliott got bored. Leaning onto the table towards the Torchic he whispered, "Hey Ben, do you wanna play?"

Ben looked over at his friend a little confused. Weren't they still in timeout? "Don't we have to sit for 10 minutes?"

Elliott shook his head at the reply. "But that's boring. We could do something fun like... uhh... oh, wrestling!"

"Wrestling?"

"Yeah! Me an my dad do it all the time. It's fun!"

Ben wasn't gonna lie, just sitting here doing absolutely nothing was getting kind of boring. "How do I play?"

_(Mrs. Clair had just put the last of her students that weren't in timeout, asleep. Glancing up at the clock she noticed that 10 minutes had passed, signaling the end of the Torchic's and Snivy's punishment. She had to admit that the pair had been oddly quiet during that time, but was a little unsure if that was a good or bad thing. As she was getting up, a loud crash echoed throughout the classroom. This consequently woke up some of the Pokémon that Mrs. Clair has just put to sleep, which greatly annoyed her. The Gardevoir jerked her head to where the two boys should be, only to discover that neither of them were there.)_

Elliott had the brilliant idea of starting the wrestling match on top of the table. This of course led them to eventually fall off, crash into some chairs, and roll underneath the low lying piece of furniture. Despite this, the two Pokémon still continued their match. Abruptly shifting chairs around and making all sorts of noise in the process. Elliott then managed to pin Ben to the ground, pressing all of his body weight against the small Torchic.

"Get off a me!" demanded Ben, who tried his best to maneuver himself out from under his friend.

"Do you give up yet?" asked Elliott, who could already tell what the answer would be.

Ben tried one last time to free himself, but found the Snivy just too heavy for him to shake off. He nodded his head in defeat from his position on the floor, a little annoyed that he had lost two of their games in a row.

"Yay, I win!" boasted Elliott, who got up a little too quickly and bumped his head on the underside of the table. "Owie" blurted the Pokémon, landing on his butt and holding his head in pain.

The once thought to be loser of the wrestling match seized this golden opportunity and lunged at the Snivy with the hopes of winning round two. Ben's second attempt however, would be in vain as Elliott quickly managed to pin him once again.

"Pinned ya again."

Ben stuck his tongue out at Elliott and his snarky comment. Why couldn't he win one of their games for once?

It was then that the table they were wrestling under suddenly began floating up into the air. The two Pokémon noticed the sudden absence of the long piece of furniture over them and spotted their teacher who didn't look happy at all.

"Move..." sternly ordered Mrs. Clair.

The pair scrambled to their feet and stood clear of the table that gently descended back onto the floor.

"May I ask why you two were fighting under my table?" quizzed the Gardevoir in her signature crossed arm stance.

"We were wrestling, not fighting." corrected Elliott. This comment led him to

getting a fierce glare from his teacher that told him that this was not the time to be talking back.

"Well whatever it was, there will be no more of it. Understand?"

Both Pokémon nodded their heads, with Ben locking his gaze to the ground in guilt.

"Now, am I gonna have to separate you two?" questioned their teacher.

Ben and Elliott frightfully looked up at Mrs. Clair and shook their heads 'no', not ever wanting to be separated from one another

"Then are we gonna behave ourselves?"

"Yes Mrs. C." replied the duo in unison.

"Okay. Now go grab a mat and join the rest of the class for nap time." instructed the Gardevoir, pointing to a pile of neatly folded cushions in the corner of the room. The boys went off and did what they were told, with another Pokémon approaching Mrs. Clair. She felt a tug on her skirt from behind, twisting around to see the Growlithe that she had just finished putting to sleep.

"Miss teacher, is it snack time yet?" asked the clueless Pokémon.

Mrs. Clair, feeling quite underpaid for the crap she had to put up with, dragged her hands down across her face and stared at the Pokémon that had taken her forever to get to fall asleep. "Not yet sweetie. Just go back to your mat and I'll be over to pat you back to sleep." replied Mrs. Clair, trying her best to keep a smile on her face.

The Growlithe complied and made his way back to the mat, being followed by the Gardevoir. Mrs. Clair sat down next to the Pokémon and once again started patting and petting him until he went back to sleep. While doing this, she looked over to see that Ben and Elliott were in the corner of the room building what seemed to be a fortress made out of sleeping mats. These boys were bringing her closer and closer to the edge, one more incident away from ripping her 'hair' out or whatever that green stuff was on top of her head. "_This is going to be a looong year."_ she painfully thought to herself.

Ben and Elliott somehow managed to stay out of major trouble for the remainder of the school day, but not without causing Mrs. Clair a few more headaches here and there. As the clock neared 2:30, a loud voice came over the even louder loudspeaker and described how dismissal would work. Informing the school that pre-k and kindergarten classes would leave first, then grades 1&2, then 3&4. The preschool class quickly gathered their belongings and made their way to the front of the school where multiple busses and vans waited for students to fill them. To Ben's dismay, Elliott split off in a different direction and boarded one of the other busses. He was a little sad that his best friend wasn't with him, but soon recalled that Zack and Blake would accompany him on his ride home. Boarding his bus, he made himself comfortable in the front left seat and patiently awaited their arrival.

**...**

The bus finally made it to Ben's stop, with him hopping down from his seat and saying goodbye to his bus buddies before leaving. Quickly locating his dad, he bolted to the Blaziken who was crouched down, arms outstretched and ready for a hug. "DADDY!" happily rejoiced Ben as he got scooped up by Kelvin who gave his son a tight hug. Ben hugged back while brushing his head against the Blaziken's shoulder, happy to finally be back in his dad's loving arms.

"Hey Benny! Did you have a good first day of school?"

Ben furiously nodded his head to the point of nearly giving himself whiplash. "Uh huh. We did a lot of stuff today."

"What kinda stuff?" asked Kelvin, placing his son on the ground so he could walk along with him to their house.

Ben had no idea know where to begin. So much happened during those short, yet exciting six hours that he was dying to tell his dad everything. Doing his very best, he described literally everything that went on during the day: the bus ride to school, the Squirtle, the lesson they learned, what they had for lunch, what happened during recess, meeting Elliott the Snivy and even the wrestling match under the table.

Kelvin listened closely to his son the entire trip, happy to hear that he was already making friends in school. There was something that stuck out to him however, and that thing was the two incidents with the Squirtle. Yes, Kelvin was grateful that some other students stepped in to help and in this case, save Ben from getting severely hurt, but was concerned about the coming days and weeks ahead. Because if the past had taught him anything, it was that the water type would try to seek revenge. Looking down at his son, he examined the bald spot that Ben had pointed out earlier. This morning he was diffusing Shula's worries about Ben going to school, but now harbored his own feeling of worry. Especially for his son's safety, frightful of what the near future held for the young Pokémon.

* * *

Tuesday and Wednesday fly by without any major hiccups occurring. Ben and Elliott continued to have fun in school as they played games, learned new things and did everything else in between with each other. They did do their best to avoid the lower part of the parking lot, the same place where Jake and his fellow bullies like to hang around. Kelvin kept a close eye on Ben, secretly cleaning and tending to his bald spot as to promote quick feather growth. Thursday(or 'Friday Eve' as I like to call it) came around with nothing out of the ordinary happening until recess...

Our infamous little duo was sitting in a large plot of grass located directly across the street from the school. From there, they watched cars drive by as well as the multitude of other Pokémon that played in the parking lot. Ben had been enjoying the cool, cloudy weather as well as the company of his friend. His vision eventually wandered to the left, leading him to notice a large group of Pokémon that wasn't there a few moments ago. Using a foot, he poked the Pokémon beside him to get his attention. "Hey Elliott, do you know why those Pokémon are over there?" curiously asked Ben.

Elliott looked to where his friend was referring to and easily spotted the group. They all seemed to be huddled around someone or something. "I dunno. Let's go see."

As they approached the group, they started to hear a mix of yelling and cheering with some Pokémon shouting: "Get him Mark!" and others cheering: "Yeah! You got this Conner!" Ben and Elliott had no idea what all this excitement was about, but were determined to find out. The two of them made efforts to push their way through the thick crowd of Pokémon, with neither of them making any progress. It was then Elliott took notice of what seemed to be a fellow grass type with a large leaf on its head. "Maybe this Pokémon can help us." he thought to himself. Approaching the stranger he tapped on its back a few times, "Excuse me?" interjected the Snivy.

The Chikorita turned her focus away from the commotion and examined the small duo in front of her. Now she had seen a lot of cute Pokémon in her young 4th grade life, but these two had to take the cake. "Oh my gosh, you two are soo cute!" squealed the Chikorita, with her high pitched feminine voice revealing to the boys that she was female.

"Ewww, a girl." internally scoffed Elliott, who already had to deal with his sister back at home.

On the other hand, Ben though this new Pokémon was quite friendly and gave her a wave with one of his tiny wings. "Hi there. My name is Ben."

The Chikorita was mere seconds away from exploding from a cuteness overload. "Oh, don't move. I'll be right back." instructed the Leaf Pokémon. Bolting into the crowd, she came back out a few seconds later pushing a purple faced Pokémon that wore white bows, towards the boys again it's will.

"Aw c'mon Chloe, I wanted to keep watching the battle." protested the Gothita, who had been perfectly content watching other Pokémon attack each other until one of them collapsed from exhaustion. "She better have a good reason for dragging me over here."

"Okay Gracie. Look at how cute these preschoolers are! Like, aren't they just the cutest!?" giggled Chloe.

The Fixation Pokemon rolled her eyes and fixated her gaze on the two small students who seemed to be just your average preschoolers. "Chloe, I think you need help." blatantly stated Gracie, who was starting to wonder about her friend's mental health. As soon as this was said, she saw a tall, shadowy figure appear behind the Torchic. A pair of blue, glowing eyes opened and looked down upon the small fire type with two hands reaching for the Pokémon. Gracie froze up with fear as she intently stared at the Pokémon-like figure, wondering what it could possibly be.

Chloe noticed that her friend was staring at something. Curious as to what, she matched her gaze which was slightly above the Torchic and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Turning back to her friend she waved her leaf in front of the Gothita's face, "Hello? Gracie? Earth to Gracie?" but got no response. "And she says I'm the one who needs help." mumbled Chloe, as she refocused her attention on the reason that she brought her friend over here in the first place. "Sorry about that you two, my friend is being extra weird for some reason. So, is there something you needed?"

Both Ben and Elliott nodded. "Can you help us?" requested Elliott.

"Yeah, I can help you guys. What do you need help with?"

"Can you tell us why these Pokémon are over there?" inquired Ben, pointing to the group behind her.

"Yep. They're all watching a battle. The junior battling club has them out here all the time."

"Woah. Can we watch it?" eagerly asked Elliott.

"Sure. Anything for you two." cheerfully responded the Leaf Pokemon. Stepping to the side, she allowed Ben and Elliott to become part of the crowd of slightly older Pokémon. They positioned themselves to get a good view of the action, just in time to witness a Cubone defeat a Machop.

"And the winner is Conner!" announced a Riolou, who held up one of the Cubone's arms.

The crowd surrounding Ben and Elliott went absolutely wild as they congratulated the winner while chanting, "BONE HEAD! BONE HEAD! BONE HEAD!"

After a few minutes of loud cheering, the battlefield was cleared and was now ready to go for the next pair of battlers. "Alright everyone, calm down, calm down. requested the Riolu. "Now, who's up next?"

"We'll go next." came a voice from within the mess of Pokémon, with a Zorua emerging from the crowd followed by an Eevee.

Ben immediately recognized the two to be Zack and Blake, with him becoming very excited. First by the fact that he did indeed have recess with them and second, he was gonna see them battle for the first time ever. "That's my friends Elliott! They ride my bus!" burst out the Torchic, happily flapping his wings as fast as he could while jumping up and down. Unable to contain his massive amount of excitement for what was about to go down.

The Riolu placed a paw between the Pokémon who were already giving each other fierce competitive glares. "You two will battle until one is unable to continue or when I saw to stop. Remember to have fun and...BEGIN!"

Ben and Elliott watched both of the Pokémon duke it out, completely perplexed by their speed, power and determination. They continued to be amazed all throughout the battle until both contenders could barely manage to keep on their feet.

The Riolu saw that both Pokémon had become very weak and went to stand in between them. "Alright you two, I'm calling the battle here so both of you can still function after recess. For now, it's a tie, but there's always tomorrow to decide on the winner. Now, shake paws and congratulate each other on a good match." Zack and Blake shook, and once again blended in with the crowd.

"That's all the battles we're having today. We'll see most of you back here tomorrow." announced the Riolu, with the crowd dispersing all throughout the grassy area.

Ben remained standing in his spot while all of this was going on. He had never seen anything like what he had just witnessed in front of him before, ever in his young life. Not only did battling look fun, it also looked like an opportunity to use his attacks without getting in trouble. Kelvin and Shula had already made it abundantly clear to Ben that he was not to use his attack in the house EVER, putting great emphasis on the 'EVER' part. He just hoped that Elliott would be down to battle him sometime soon.

Luckily for Ben, Elliott thought that the battle looked like a buttload of fun. "Ben, can we battle, please please please. I really really really wanna battle." expressed Elliott.

Ben about jumped for joy after hearing the plea. "Yeah! Let's battle now! But where do we do it?"

Elliott took a quick look around before seeing the opportune spot to have their first battle. "We can do it over by that tree."

"Okay." agreed Ben, joining Elliott in running over to the very large tree near the edge of their recess area. Both Pokémon stood a few yards apart and got into a battle stance.

_(An Exploud exited through the double doors that led to the parking lot, inhaled some air and very loudly announced that recess was over. Many of the students and teachers who were only a few feet away from the source of the boisterous Pokémon now had ringing ears thanks to their new principal.)_

Ben and Elliott very clearly heard the announcement, which was also heard by every Pokémon in a couple mile radius. Not soon after, Mrs. Clair also announced that her students were to line up to go back inside. Neither Pokémon wanted to head back to school, especially now that they were just about to start their first ever battle.

"NO! NO NO NO!" whined Elliott, who fell back on his behind, legitimately mad at the fact that their battle wasn't going to happen right now.

"We can do it tomorrow." suggested Ben, attempting to bring his friend's spirits up a bit. "We will have the whole recess to do it too."

Elliott did like the sound of spending an entire recess period battling. "Okay. We do it tomorrow." confirmed the Snivy, nodded his head in agreement.

The pair of friends, happy with their plan, started the long walk back to their teacher. Elliott saw how far it was and began to pick up the pace, with Ben quickly matching it. Elliott saw this and picked up his pace even further, with Ben once again matching it. This continued until both of them were running at breakneck speeds, effectively having a second race back to their class. Ben didn't show it, but deep down he was really anxious to finally battle for the first time. Better yet, he would get to do it with his best friend, with it all happening tomorrow…

**IT MAGICALLY BECAME TOMORROW IN SEVEN WORDS...**

Ben eyelids jerked open upon hearing the songs of multiple birds outside. Quickly kicking off his covers, he scurried over to the window and pushed the curtains aside. Looking out, he saw clear evidence of the sun rising over the mountains in the distance, signaling the start of a new day. Leaving the window, he jumped down from his bed and ran over to his parent's bedroom with the intent to wake them up. Reaching their doorway he found the door to be closed, which he thought was rather odd as it usually always open. Placing his head against the door, he began to hear a repetitive squeaking sound along with a few other weird noises that were unknown to the Torchic. Ben had never heard anything like what he was hearing right now and was kinda curious as to what was making these noises. With his curiosity piqued, he slowly opened the door only to witness something that would be burned into his memory for a long time.

**WARNING****: Light lemons, heavy innuendo and language ahead**

Shula was lying on the bed with her butt in the air, eyes rolled to the back of her head and tongue hanging out of her beak. All the while moaning as her husband entered her womanhood from behind. Kelvin, who was currently standing on his knees with talons around his wife's waist, had his eyes closed as he rhythmically slid in and out of Shula while moaning along side of his partner.

Ben had no idea what was going on and had remained unnoticed by either of the Blazikens, prompting him to speak up. "What's daddy doing to mommy?" questioned the Torchic, a little concerned that they were hurting each other.

Both of the parents immediately froze in place upon hearing the young voice and quickly locked their gaze to the doorway, finding their son to be wide awake an hour earlier than they had expected. Kelvin just stared at his son, beak agape, completely unable to say or do anything due to the awkwardness of the situation and that he was currently balls deep in his wife. Shula noticed that her husband was currently broken, leaving her to deal with Ben's sudden presence.

"Head back over to your bedroom Benny. I'll be over in a couple minutes, okay? And close our door before you go!" instructed Shula from her position on the bed.

Ben grabbed the door with his beak and started pulling it shut, taking one last peek at his mom and dad before fully closing the bedroom door.

Kelvin slowly pulled out of Shula, sending one last wave of pleasure throughout each of their bodies, eliciting a final moan to escape Shula's beak. Taking a seat at the edge of the bed, he watched his member slowly disappear back into his slightly wet and matted feathers.

Shula got out of one of the many sex positions that she was well oriented with and plopped down right next to him. Wrapping her arms around the fellow Blaziken and resting her head on his muscular arm. Kelvin placed a talon on Shula's thigh and lightly squeezed it as he let loose a heavy sigh.

The other Blaziken heard what seemed to be a sigh of distress from her husband, leading her to make eye contact while she placed a talon of her own on his neck. "Aww, what's the matter big boy? Are you upset that we didn't get to finish?" teased Shula, who now wore a devilish grin.

Kelvin smiled as he chuckled at his wife's dirty remark, unknown to him they were about to get a lot worse. "Yeah, a little bit." admitted the Blaziken. "I'm just a little embarrassed that Ben walked in on us while we were... _gettin it on_."

Shula shook her head at her husband's worry. "Kelvin, Ben's four and a half. He's just gonna forget about it in a few days."

"I don't know Shula, that kinda stuff can scar kids for a really long time." said Kelvin. Every once in a while getting flashes of his own parents goin' at it. Shuddering at the fact that he was even thinking about it right now.

"Well, we just won't do it while Ben's here. Let's see, that gives us a solid six hours to fuck the shit out of each other." wooed Shula. Giving Kevin a cute smile before placing a talon on his crotch and pressing her beak against his.

I think it would be an understatement to say that Kelvin enjoyed the horny version of Shula more as compared to the normal one. The kiss eventually ended with Kelvin realizing something. "Wait, what about Lucas? He's gonna be here all day with us."

Shula had forgotten that variable while planning out their all day orgy and sighed in annoyance. "Whenever he's asleep we'll go at it, alright?"

"Alright"

"Good. Now I have to go check on Ben to make sure he isn't _scarred for life_." sarcastically stated Shula, air quoting the last three words of her sentence. Opening the door she nearly tripped over the Torchic who was still standing in the exact same place that he was in earlier.

Ben had been secretly listening to his parent's conversation through the door the entire time. Once he realized that he had been spotted, he looked up at his mother and asked, "Mommy, what does the word 'fuck' mean?"

Shula jaw dropped upon hearing the question and slowly turned her head to Kelvin who was wearing the biggest smile that she had ever seen. At first confused as to why he was all smiles. All Ben did was swear, it wasn't that big of a-. Shula then remembered something. Her and Kelvin had made a bet a few months before Ben was born that the first person to teach to teach their kid(s) a swear word, whether it be on voluntary or involuntary, would get diaper duty for a month straight. "Aw you gotta be fu—" began Shula, who bit her tongue to stop herself from saying the 'f' word a second time. She sighed before looking down at Ben while putting her hands at her hips, "Now didn't I tell you to go to your room?" grumpily asked Shula, a little peeved about the whole 'changing diapers for a month' thing.

And with that, Ben bolted back into his bedroom.

Shula looked back at Kelvin once again, angrily mouthing the word 'shit' before leaving the doorway. Entering Ben's bedroom she found him sitting on the edge of his bed, swinging his legs back and forth like he always did on everything he sat on. Sitting down on the edge of the small, orange bed, she prepared herself for the influx of questions which would happen to start with the one that Ben had just asked a few seconds ago. "What does the word 'fuck' mean?" curiously asked the Torchic once again.

Shula shook her head and placed a finger on Ben's beak. "No Benny. We don't say that word. Cause if you say it near Lucas and he repeats it, your gonna be in your room for a week. Understand?"

The Torchic nodded and moved on to his next question. "What were you and daddy doing?"

Shula so desperately wanted to answer with "each other", but knew that it would only lead to even more questions being asked. She instead gave him a proper answer, "Me and your daddy were doing something that you'll (probably) experience when your older." explained the Blaziken.

"How much older?" quizzed Ben.

She carefully thought before answering, "Much, much older." said Shula, unsure of when Ben's first time would be.

An awkward moment of silence followed that answer before Ben asked his next question. "Why were you and daddy making those weird noises?"

Now Shula was starting to get a little uncomfortable, unsure of how to give an answer without it being dirty. "Uummmm... because we were... happy?"

"Oh" replied Ben, who never knew that was one way to express happiness. "Why was daddy putting his-"

The Blaziken quickly put a talon over her son's beak. "Okay, that's about enough of the questions Ben." quickly replied Shula, who decided to put an end to the Q&A so things didn't get even weirder than they already had. "Now." began Shula, ruffling up the top of her son's head. "Let's get you ready for school."

**...**

Mrs. Clair's preschool class was the first group of students to exit the cafeteria after lunch. Making their way to the sidewalk, they crossed the street into the grass lot and spread all throughout the area. Ben and Elliott, knowing full well what today was, ran over to their tree and got ready for the battle. Both of them got into the same attack positions as yesterday, with Elliott suddenly having a stroke of genius. "Oh oh, Let's make the battle even better." suggested the Snivy.

"How do we do that?"

"We can have the winner get a _prize_."

"What kind of prize?"

Elliott paused for a moment, trying to think of a worthy enough prize for the winner of their battle. "Oh! The winner will get the loser's snack during snack time."

Ben had a massive sweet tooth and would gladly accept any chance he had to get a hold of more sugar or just food in general. "Okay, let's do this."

Elliott began to yell the count down to start the battle, "3...2...1...BATTLE!" The Snivy started things off with a tackle attack, quickly charging at his opponent and smashing his body against the Fire-type.

Ben felt every bit of that attack which sent him tumbling a couple yards from his starting position. Laying on the ground, he began to tear up from the sheer pain that Elliott's attack had caused but knew that if he wanted to win their battle he would have to remain strong. Confidently getting back on his feet, he charged at the Snivy with the hopes of landing a Peck attack.

Elliott decided to follow up with Vine Whip, with two green vines emerging from his back and shooting right at the quickly approaching Torchic.

Ben saw the green, rope-like things heading towards him and took a large side step left in an attempt to dodge them. Despite his maneuver, Ben's right wing still got grazed by the powerful vine, but didn't really cause any pain for the Torchic. Closing in on Elliott, he landed a solid Peck attack right to his abdomen which pushed the Snivy back a couple of yards.

Elliott winced at the incredible pain he was experiencing in his midsection, definitely feeling much weaker than he did before. Struggling to get up, he whipped up a Leaf Tornado and sent it Ben's way.

Ben didn't know what to do. The swirling mass of leaves seemed to follow him wherever he ran, eventually leading him to get caught in the swirling leafy death. The sharp leaves cut and scraped him all over, but once again not really hurting as much as he thought it should. After it subsided, Ben couldn't help but notice that his vision had gotten blurrier, having a slightly tougher time seeing where Elliott was exactly. Still determined to win, he once again closed in on Elliott, but this time for a Scratch attack. Jumping up, he brought his sharp feet in front of himself and completely missed his target by a large margin, leaving Ben to fall face first into the ground.

Elliott watched all of this unfold, including the part where Ben landed flat on his face. Really confused and unsure of how Ben managed to miss him by a full two feet over his head. Elliott wasn't complaining though. All of this gave him the opportunity to tightly wrap two vines around the Torchic and quickly lift him up in the air.

Ben desperately flailed his legs and wings as he felt himself being lifted high into the air, with the ground getting farther and farther away. Ben had a terrible fear of heights and started to cry after seeing that he was many feet off the ground. He wouldn't be far from the green grass for long as he soon felt himself get yanked back down towards the ground at a high rate of speed. There was nothing Ben could do as the vines released their grip, closing his eyes shut right before he made contact with the ground.

"Ouch." murmured Ben, as his whole body ached with pain, not really knowing if he could stand up. "_Now I know how that Squirtle felt in the parking lot."_ he thought to himself. Fighting through the hurt, Ben managed to very slowly get back on his two wobbly legs.

Elliott saw that Ben was slow to get up and decided on his final move being another tackle attack, with the Snivy beginning his charge towards his opponent.

Ben knew that if Elliott landed that attack, he probably wouldn't be able to get back up. Which would mean he would lose the battle and his snack. He then felt something inside of him grow in power, with his gut telling him to go for a fire attack. Closing his eyes, he concentrated and gathered the last of his energy, focusing it all to his beak where a red hot Ember attack began to form. Opening his eyes to see that Elliott had nearly reached him, decided that this was the best time to attack. Ben breathed out in Elliott's direction, sending dozens of miniature sized fireballs at the Snivy who was quickly engulfed in the attack.

The embers began to burn the grass around Elliott, leading to a large cloud of smoke will form around the Grass-type. This smoke eventually cleared, revealing a very burned and weak-looking Elliott who was somehow still standing in place.

Ben was beyond shocked that Elliott was still up, almost certain that his attack had made a direct hit. Soon after, the Snivy began uneasily swaying back and forth for a while until he eventually fell to the ground with a thud.

Ben watched as Elliott hit the ground, leaving him the last one standing, meaning that he was the winner of their battle. "I won?!" *gasp* "I WON!" proclaimed the Torchic, having just enough energy to happily flap his tiny yet useless wings, having finally won one of their games and at the same time scoring an extra snack for himself during snack time. But that excitement and happiness would soon turn into fear, sadness and guilt as he looked back at Elliott who was still lying motionless on the ground.

"Hey Elliott, you can get up now, the battle's over." yelled Ben, getting no response.

He slowly walked up to the Snivy, confused as to why he was still lying on the ground. It was then Ben fully noticed the amounts of burns on Elliott's body as well as his pair of black, swirly eyes. Kneeling down, he began to lightly shove the Snivy in an attempt to wake him up. "Are you okay Elliott?" asked Ben, who was now starting to think that his friend was badly injured, or even worse, dead. Ben couldn't bear the thought of the latter being the case, leading him to shake his Elliott even harder. "Elliott you're scaring me, please wake up." trembling harder than he ever had before.

"ELLIOTT! ELLIOTT WAKE UP! WAKE UP ELLIOTT!" screaming Ben at the top of his lungs, hopelessly shaking the unresponsive Pokémon while large tears ran down his face and onto the Snivy.

"I'm sorry Elliott, please wake up, pleeaase" Ben managed to say in between sobs. "I n-never meant to m-make you hurt this b-b-bad." croaked the Torchic, resting his head on the unconscious Pokémon.

A Piplup named Penelope(who happened to be one of his classmates), was strolling by the tree when she heard Ben's outcry and came running to the scene. Gasping when she saw the pair of beaten up Pokémon and immediately left the scene to get help

Not even a few seconds later, Mrs. Clair rounded the tree to see a battered Torchic who was crying over an equally battered and burnt Snivy. "What happened Ben?" frantically asked Mrs. Clair.

"I-I-I hurt him. I h-hurt him. I hurt him." wailed Ben, who believed that he had just killed his bestest friend in the whole wide world.

Mrs. Clair quickly but carefully scooped up both Elliott and Ben, jogging her way back to the school to get the two Pokémon the medical attention that they so desperately needed.

Ben looked over at his still unconscious friend and began apologizing while sobbed into his teacher's arm. "I'm sorry Elliott. I'm sorry. I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sor-" trailed off Ben, who suddenly became very sleepy while hearing a voice in his head. "Don't worry about Elliott, Ben. He will be just fine. Now take a well deserved nap." spoke the soothing voice. And with that, our protagonist was fast asleep.

**...**

Ben woke up about fifteen minutes later in a soft bed that was located in a well lit room. Sitting up, he noticed that his right wing had a bandage on it, as well as multiple other spots on his body where the Leaf Tornado had cut him. Looking to his left he saw Elliott who was sitting up in an identical bed while eating cup of chocolate pudding. Ben's face immediately lit up upon seeing his friend moving once again. Rolling off of the bed, he rushed over and glomped his friend. "Yay, Elliott you're okay!" rejoiced Ben.

Elliott looked down at Ben, a little confused as to why his friend was hugging him. "Why would I not be okay?" asked the Snivy.

"I thought you were dead." woefully admitted Ben. "You had these really swirly eyes."

"Really? That's Weird." replied Elliott, who had never seen 'swirly eyes' before.

Ben's gaze eventually fell on the pudding cup that Elliott was holding with one of his vines. "C-Can I have a taste?" curiously asked the Torchic, feeling really hungry at the moment.

Elliott nodded his head and brought the cup and spoon in front of Ben. "Here. It's your prize for winning the battle, remember?" reminded Elliott.

Ben gladly accepted his prize pudding and happily began to chow down on the delicious treat. He had his friend back, a cup of half eaten chocolate pudding. Yeah, life was good, and it could only get better from here, right?

* * *

Well, well, well, did we enjoy ourselves? Cause I know that I did while writing this chapter(it was actually quite fun ngl). Jokes aside, I hope you people liked a little taste of what heavier lemons will be like. If you have any advice for me, any advice AT ALL, whether it be on my writing or the general story structure, please please please drop my a PM or review on the story. I'm really eager to improve as a writer but I can't do it without the help of you people. Give me or the story a favorite or follow if you liked what you've read so far as I upload new chapters every month or so. If you don't want to make a login for this website and you happen to have a Twitter, give me a follow there as I am starting to post updates about the story whenever new chapters go live: **('at' symbol)****Ben99_561** (The profile pic is a Torchic, surprise surprise) Well that's all from me for now. I hope all of you enjoy the rest of your day, remember to love yourself and don't stay up til' two in the morning working on a story :/


	7. Plotting Revenge

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What? Oh, it's you. Heh, I didn't see you there. A "Welcome Back!" to all the returning readers and a hearty "Hello!" to all the news eyes reading my story for the first time. There's a lot of juicy stuff to read so ima make this quick. A massive, and I'm talking a ginormous **THANK YOU** to all the readers from wherever you're reading this from. Thanks to all of you, this story has miraculously reached over 575 views which I find absolutely amazing. That's a crazy number that I thought I would never see in the stats page of this story. Speaking of the story stats, I'd like to give **'nickjsprussell'** a special shoutout for being the second person to favorite the story so far. You have no idea how much that simple button press means to me and I hope you continue to enjoy reading. With all that out of the way, lets get this show on the road. **This** chapter will include: an ice cream treat, a cheesy Pokémon adaptation of a children's book, an Oshawott's scalchop(the shell on it's chest), a magazine and a busted door.

**DISCLAIMER: It would be really cool if Pokémon existed in the real world. But sadly, they don't, and I still don't own Pokémon.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Plotting Revenge**

The school day had quickly come to an end for Ben and Elliott. Both Pokémon were now back in their respective homes, with supper being well underway for the Blaze family. Ben, who had already gobbled down his large, egg-based meal, was nearly done telling his family about his first battle ever...

"And then I did a Ember and it hit Elliott. He fell down and then I won the battle." concluded Ben, proudly holding his head high.

"Wow, that's great Benny!" praised Kelvin, giving his oldest son an affectionate noogie. "You'll be a pro before you know it."

Ben gladly accepted the praise given to him and endured his father's rough noogie, which Kelvin frequently dished out to his two sons. The Torchic then looked over to his mother, a little confused as to why she hadn't said anything yet "Mommy? A-Are you proud of me?" asked Ben.

Shula didn't say anything at first. She definitely wasn't mad at her son for battling (although it did lead to a call from the school nurse who informed the Blaziken of what happened at school that afternoon). Deep down, she was actually kind of shocked to hear that Ben was battling so early. At the same time becoming slightly jealous of her son who got a very early start in the whole battling scene. Something she didn't get involved with until she was around 9 or 10 years old. Also knowing for a fact that her first one wasn't a win either. Shula stopped her reminiscing of the past and smiled at her oldest child. "Well of course Benny. I'll always be proud of you. No matter how well you do in a battle, or in anything else."

Ben smiled from ear to ear at his mom after hearing that. Sliding out his booster seat, he ran over to Shula's right leg and gave it a great big hug. "I love you Mommy." said Ben into the Blaziken's leg feathers.

Shula welcomed the sudden embrace from her son as she loved having these little moments with her kids, all of them never failing to melt her heart every single time. Picking Ben up off of the floor, she brought him close to her chest and returned his hug with a gentle embrace of her own.

"I love you too Benny." lulled Shula, putting every last ounce of love she had into the warm and long-lasting hug. After it ended, she placed Ben on her lap and asked, "Was Elliott alright after your guys' battle?"

Ben's happy demeanor quickly fizzled away after hearing the question, not wanting to remember what he thought had happened to his friend. "His eyes were all swirly after he fell down... I thought he was dead." sadly mumbled the Torchic.

"Oh honey, it's okay." reassured Shula, kneading a talon through her son's feathers in an attempt to comfort him. "Do you know why his eyes were swirly?" quizzed the Blaziken, already knowing the answer why.

Ben nodded his head. "Elliott said that means he got knocked out. It was still scary though."

"You know..." began Kelvin, "The first time I battled Mommy. I remember getting really scared after I knocked her out."

"Woah, really?" awed Ben.

"Yep. I took Mommy out in one attac-"

"Hold on, hold on," interjected Shula, "You're not talking about the first battle we had in college, are you?"

"Yeah... why?"

Shula began to laugh out loud, "Because I wiped the floor with you in that battle! I recall you being really infatuated with me. So much so that you never got to use a single attack."

Kelvin blushed in embarrassment as he realized that he had remembered his first battle with Shula completely wrong. "Oh, y-yeah. I remember now." admitted Kevin, chuckling along with his wife so this whole situation didn't get more awkward. This whole ordeal got Kelvin thinking back to the good old days of college, especially recalling multiple things about Shula. Some of those thoughts clean, others being rated M, with the most prominent memory being the first time he laid eyes on Shula. "Damn, you were so freaking hot back then." quietly mumbled Kelvin, who was still deep in thought of the memories of the past. But he apparently didn't say it quiet enough.

Shula's laughter came to a dead stop after hearing what she thought she heard. "Wait a minute, did you just say that I was hot BACK THEN?!"

Kelvin momentarily became as cold as an ice type, freezing in place as he mentally cursed at himself with every word in the book. Why the hell did he have to open his big mouth? Kelvin really didn't want to look up from his food, but he knew that he would have to face the music eventually. Slowly raising his line of sight, he found a confused and angry look on his wife's face that he had never seen before in his life.

"What's wrong with me Kelvin?! Am, am I... ugly?! screamed Shula, having half a mind to leap over the table and uglify her husband's face to show him what ugly really looked like.

"Uhhhhh" was the only thing coming out of Kelvin's beak, unable to say any real words due to just not knowing what to say. Luckily for Kelvin, Ben and Lucas would cool down the situation to a somewhat manageable degree.

"Mommy not uggy, she pwetty." blurted Lucas.

"I think mommy is very pretty." concurred Ben, who cuddled up against Shula's chest.

Shula really appreciated the kind words from her kids, but was still waiting on an answer from her husband and was quickly losing her patience. "Say something Kevin!" demanded the Blaziken.

"Uhhhhh... Who wants ice cream?!" suddenly shouted Kelvin in an attempt to save his feathery ass.

The two Torchics in the room immediately began to jump up and down, especially Ben.

"ME! ME! I want ice cream! I love ice cream!" squealed Ben.

"Yaaay! Ice cweam!" rejoiced Lucas.

Kelvin wasted no time in stumbling out of his chair and retreating out into the kitchen. Hopefully he would be in there long enough for Shula to calm down a bit.

Shula meanwhile, just sat in her chair, a little steamy about what had just transpired at the dinner table. Now, she wasn't that mad that her own husband had basically called her ugly. Okay, I lied... Shula was really mad and she would definitely have to exact her revenge against Kevin in the near future. But right now, she began to wonder about _something_. And that _something_ was how Elliott's parents were going to react to the whole battling situation with Ben.

* * *

We now change locations to a totally different part of town. To a household located in the middle of a largely Grass-type neighborhood. There, a certain Snivy who we all know now as Elliott, was also sitting at the dining room table with his family. As he too was almost done describing _his_ perspective of the battle he had with Ben...

"I tried to tackle him again, but he got me with a Ember. It hurt a lot and then I got really sleepy and fell on the grass. Ben said that my eyes went all swirly and that I scared him." explained Elliott.

"So you lost?" asked a slightly older Treecko named Sammy, who happened to be Elliott's big sister.

Elliott nodded his head, "Mmm hmm, I woke up in a white bed and Sylvie gave me a pudding cup."

"What kind of pudding was it?" interrupted Sammy once again.

"Chocolate. Now no more questions, I'm trying to tell a story!" playfully scolded Elliott, "Anyway, Ben woke up a later and we shared the pudding and, uhhh, that's it." abruptly concluded the Snivy.

"Well, I think that was very nice of you to share your pudding with Ben." spoke a Surperior, giving her son a reassuring pat on the head with one of her vines. "And I think it's really cool that you had a battle with your friend today. How bout it Mike?

A Sceptile glanced up at his wife, giving her an annoyed stare before returning his gaze back to his food. "Yeah Katie. I really enjoy listening to stories where our son gets beat up. I just _love_ them." sarcastically responded Mike.

Katie was unsure of what her husband's deal was and really didn't want to start something in front of the kids. "Honey. You know it was just a battle, right? Elliott didn't get beat up."

The Sceptile just shook his head in disagreement, "That's not what it sounded like to me." argued Mike. Locking eyes with his son, he delivered his final say on the matter. "Elliott, I forbid you to play with that Torchic at school again. You understand me?"

Elliott immediately began to tear up at the thought of never being able to play with Ben again. "B-B-But Daddy, h-he's my f-friend!" whimpered the Snivy, unsure as to why his dad was saying all of these horrible things.

The Sceptile pounded his fist on the table which rattled silverware and startled everyone. "I... don't... care... Elliott." declared Mike, "If I hear that you're still playing with him, I will sell all of your toys and you will be in your room for the rest of the year! Got it?!"

Elliott couldn't take any more of this. Slipping out of his booster seat, he made his way to the stairs and quickly climbed them, leaving a trail of tears behind him as he did so. Sammy watched her little brother scurry upstairs; deciding on the spot to also leave the table and run up after him.

Katie witnessed both of her kids retreat to the second floor and immediately became very irritated with her husband. "Mike!? What the hell was that?!" hissed the Surperior, a little pissed that her husband would do something like that.

"I just don't think Elliott should be hanging around with that Torchic." plainly spoke Mike, aggressive stabbing a piece of food on his plate and eating it.

"Did you not see how excited Elliott was just to describe a battle _that he lost?_ Because it seems to me like him and Ben are pretty close friends." protested Katie.

"Katie, our son got knocked out during school."

"But that's part of battling Mike and I'm sure he didn't mean to knock him out fully. Elliott told us himself that Ben was scared to see his swirly eyes as well as him not moving."

"You know what Katie? I really don't care what kind of friends Elliott makes. It just can't be with a Fire-type, that's all. Hell, Elliott could even make friends with a pedofile for all I care, and that wouldn't bother me as much as him being friends with that Torchic does." conceded Mike, who then got up from his seat, grabbed his plate and made his way out into the kitchen.

Katie remained in her seat, scoffing in disbelief and disgust that Mike would say something so vile. She then remembered something, quickly realizing what all this fuss was about. Angrily slithering out to the kitchen, she raised herself up to be almost as tall as her husband. "Don't tell me all of this is because of that Blaziken in the Pokémon League."

Mike gave his wife a quick side glance and resumed rinsing off his plate.

"Oh... my... Arceus... Mike. Sometimes, you just wanna make me smash my head against a wall, repeatedly. You know that?"

"He let me down Katie. He let our whole team down."

"Mike. He's the reason your team made it as far as it did! He's the reason that we even have this house!"

"Well he didn't get us far enough."

"HIS LEG BUSTED IN HALF MIKE! HE DIDN'T WANNA LOSE EITHER BUT IT HAPPENED AND IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME THAT YOU ACCEPTED THAT!" exploded Katie at the top of her lungs, taking a few deep, relaxing breaths before continuing, "I will NOT allow you to destroy Elliott's personal life because of what happened in _your past_." stated the Surperior, poking her husband on the chest with one of her vines as she said the last two words of her sentence.

The two Pokémon angrily exchanged glares at one another for a good ten second before Mike finally spoke up.

"Okay Katie. I see how it is. So you go right on ahead and let Elliott be friends with that disgrace of a Pokémon. But if he gets knocked out again, I'm taking matters into my own hands." promised Mike, who smashed his plate in the sink and stormed out the back door, slamming it closed.

Katie angrily exhaled through her nostrils while she lowered herself to her usual height. Never had an argument of theirs reached this level of hostility, which worried Katie that her husband might eventually do something awful without thinking twice about it. Pushing the dark thoughts from her head, she remembered that Sammy and Elliott had run upstairs and that she should probably check on them to make sure they were alright. Slithering up the stairs, she entered her room to find a small lump under some green blankets that were on her bed. Katie hated when they did this, as it made her feel so guilty and every time reminded her of the less than perfect marriage that she was a part of. Lifting the covers, she discovered that Elliott who was sobbing into Sammy's lap, while the Treecko gently wrapped her arms around her brother, trying her best to comfort the crying Pokémon. With Sammy being the first one to notice Katie's presence.

"Are you and daddy still fighting?" worryingly asked the Treecko, who never once enjoyed listening to her parents argue.

Katie sighed in immense guilt, "We were, but we're done now."

"Did daddy leave?" asked Sammy, who also heard a loud crash and slam a few moments before her mom came upstairs.

"Yes... daddy left." responded Katie, hating the fact that her daughter knew what usually happened after an argument.

"Is.. is daddy gonna be okay?" asked Sammy.

"Daddy is gonna be just fine. We're all gonna be fine." consoled Katie, gently wrapping her body around the two young Pokémon that she loved so much.

* * *

Shula made herself comfortable in her and Kelvin's queen-sized bed, with both of her boys doing the same but on opposite sides of their mom. Ben and Lucas knew this time of night to be story time; always anxious to have a book or in some cases two(if they were well behaved), read to them before having to go to bed. Tonight happened to be Ben's night to pick a book and appropriately chose one of his favorites called 'Froakie Goes To School'. Shula read the title to the boys, opened the front cover and began reading to the two eager Torchics. After a few pages in, Ben and Lucas' favorite part of the book was soon approaching.

(Shula's Narration)_"Froakie's eyes opened and saw the sun brightly shining through his window. Today was his first day of school and he was excited to meet all the new Pokémon. He jumped out of bed and hopped down the hallway—hop hop hop. Entering the dining room, he sat down and waited for breakfast to be served. His mom entered the room, holding a plate with a cooked egg sprinkled with flies."_

"Ewww" blurted Ben and Lucas, disgusted that someone would ruin eggs with flies.

Shula smiled at their comment and continued reading. _"He was just about to take a bite when his mother said, 'Froakie, did you forget something?' He looked down and saw that he had forgot to put on clothes, as he was only wearing his underwear. Froakie started to look more red in the face than blue as he got out of his chair and flopped back to his bedroom—flop flop flop."_

Ben and Lucas immediately began to giggle and roll around on the bed after hearing the underwear part.

Shula watched as her kids did what they always did during story time, which happened to be laugh their heads off. While she was looking at Ben, she caught quick glimpses of a small spot on his chest that lacked quite a bit of those signature orange colored feathers. She couldn't recall the bald spot being there before and tried to get a closer look at the pink patch of skin. Now it was nowhere near their molting season and Shula didn't think that Ben had formed a habit of prematurely plucking his feathers (something that she struggled with a lot back in her childhood). While she was going through a mental checklist of all the possibilities, Ben and Lucas' laughing spree had died down and they were now able to refocus on the book. The brothers waited a few seconds for Shula to continue reading, but no further narration took place.

Ben then noticed that his mom was examining him and immediately became curious as to why. "What it is mommy?" asked the Torchic, tilting his head to one side.

"Benny? Did this happen during your battle?" asked Shula, pointing at and feeling the spot in question.

Ben looked down to where his mom was referring to, failing to see anything out of the ordinary with that particular spot. "Is there something wrong with my tummy?" asked Ben, still trying to find what was wrong with his abdomen.

"I'm talking about this." elaborated Shula, moving Ben's feathers around to reveal the slight bald spot that was previously hidden from the Torchic's view.

Ben looked at the pink patch of skin and started getting painful memories back to the first day of school. The Torchic looked up at his mom's face with a worried and slightly nervous expression, unsure if he should tell her what had happened or not. "I... uhhh, d-don't know." lied Ben, quickly switching his gaze to the book in an attempt to hide his guilty face from the Blaziken.

Shula, being a parent of two, easily saw through her son's fib and started to wonder _why_ Ben would lie to her as he usually didn't do a whole lot of lying in general. "Benny. You're not lying to me, are you? Because if you are, I'll put this book away and you'll both go to bed early tonight." threatened Shula, who started to slowly close the book.

Ben leaped onto the book to prevent its closure. "Noooo, don't put the book away." pleaded the Torchic.

The Blaziken looked down at her son with a serious face. "Are we gonna tell the truth then?"

Ben knew that he was busted, nodding before 'spilling the beans', "A Squirtle did it on the bus." finally admitted the Torchic.

"A Squirtle?"

Ben nodded his head. "He's at school and his name is Jake. He grabbed me there and my feathers fell off. It really, really hurt." explained the Torchic, trying his best not to cry.

"What? Wha-When did this happen?"

"The first day of school."

"Did... did he do anything else?"

Ben slowly nodded his head and preceded to tell Shula everything else that had happened during that fateful day. The Blaziken couldn't believe her ears. Her oldest son was officially being bullied, and on his very first day of school no less. Despite all of the bad news, Shula was thankful that Zack, Blake and Elliott stepped in when they did. Relieved to hear that good-hearted kids still existed in schools these days.

After taking a few seconds to gather her thoughts, she resumed the questionnaire. "Does daddy know about this?"

Ben nodded his head once again. "Mmm hmm. I told him when we walked home.

_"Wow. First he calls me ugly, now I find out that he's been keeping secrets from me about Ben. Boy, this day just keeps getting better and better. Doesn't it?"_ Shula thought to herself, now hating herself for not making Kelvin sleep in the basement tonight, without pillows OR blankets.

"Wait a minute. Where is daddy? He sleeps right here." randomly announced Ben, who was currently sitting in the imprint of his dad's side of the bed.

"Oh, heh. Daddy is sleeping on the couch tonight." informed Shula.

"Why is he doing that? Is it more comfy?" asked Ben, wondering if he too could sleep on the couch with his dad.

The Blaziken shook her head, "No, it's not more comfortable and daddy is doing it because he called me ugly, and you don't call your wife(or girlfriend) ugly, or they might rip your balls off." cheerfully stated Shula, wearing a little smirk as she did so.

Ben didn't know what she meant by this, but it did sound painful nonetheless. "Do I have balls?" curiously asked the Torchic.

Shula chuckled a little, "Yes Benny you have them. All boys do." enlightened Shula, motioning to where Ben could find his.

Ben looked in between his legs and then back up at the Blaziken, "Are you gonna rip _my_ balls off?" feared the Torchic, worried that _his_ balls might get taken away.

"No, of course not sweetie. I DO wanna be a grandma after all." joked Shula, who's innuendo was wasted on her kids, both of whom were too young to understand.

"A-Are you gonna rip d-daddy's balls off?" fearfully asked Ben, not wanting mommy to ever hurt daddy and vice versa.

Shula devilishly smiled at the question as it did seem pretty tempting right now, especially after learning that Kelvin had been keeping an important secret from her for quite a while. Her dark thoughts would be interrupted by a whimpering sound from her other side. Looking over at Lucas, she found her youngest son on the brink of tears as the younger of the two Torchics gazed up at his mommy.

"I no want mommy hurt daddy." sadly bawled Lucas, who overheard her conversation with Ben.

Shula immediately regretted talking to her kids about her anger-fueled intentions, not ever wanting to scare Ben or Lucas to the point of tears. "Oh, no no no, it's alright Lukey, I won't hurt daddy." half promised Shula. _"Well, at least not yet anyway..."_ she thought to herself, still wanting to get back at her husband for calling her ugly. Shula then felt something lightly pecking her side, making her jump a little. Turning quickly, she found Ben who was poking her with his beak.

Ben stopped his miniaturized assault on the Blaziken after noticing that he had gained his mom's attention. "Can mommy..." *YAWN* "...finish reading?" tiredly asked Ben, finding it harder and harder by the minute to keep his eyes open.

Shula awed in her son's never ending cuteness, feeling quite lucky to have not one but two amazing and adorable children. "Yes, mommy can read." complied the Blaziken, knowing full well that both of her kids wouldn't make it to the end of their book.

* * *

Three Water-types crawled into the small entrance of a surprisingly sturdy couch cushion and pillow fort. All of them got comfortable and started working on the plates of food they were given to by Jake's mom who had cooked up a massive amount of chicken nuggets for her son's sleepover tonight. After finishing a nugget, the Squirtle stood up inside the fort and greeted his two other friends.

"Welcome everyone, to the super secret Drop Squad meeting! Now, does everyone have chicken nuggets?"

Both Vince and Tyler nodded while they enjoyed consuming the tender pieces of poultry, but not before dipping them in healthy amounts of ketchup.

"We are here in my pillow fortress to talk about revenge." explained Jake.

"On who?" asked Vince with a full mouth, failing to remember anyone who had done them wrong recently.

"The Torchic and Snivy at school you dummy!" insulted Tyler. "They attacked us! Remember?"

That was NOT how Vince remembered that first day of school at all, but was too angry with Tyler at the moment to speak his mind about it. "I'm not a dummy, you're a dummy!" returned Vince, sticking his tongue out at the Buizel, consequently revealing some of his chewed up food.

"There is no fighting in my fortress!" shouted Jake.

"Fine!" barked Vince, "But I'm still not a dummy."

"Okay guys. We need to figure out how to get revenge on Ben and Elliott. Any ideas?" asked Jake, constantly switching his gaze between his two friends, eagerly awaiting some input from either of them.

The Buizel put a hand to his chin, thinking hard for a few seconds before coming up with an idea. "Maybe we can teach them a lesson? I don't know. It always seems to work on TV." suggested Tyler, dipping one of his nuggets into ketchup before consuming it.

"Ooo, I like that idea a lot." smiled Jake, who then looked over to the Oshawott, "Got any ideas Vince?"

"Oh no!" gasped Vince.

"What? What is it?" said Tyler.

"What's wrong Vince?" asked Jake.

"I ran out of chicken nuggets." complained Vince, who had somehow eaten twenty full sized nuggets in a matter of a few minutes.

Tyler stared in shock at the Oshawott's empty plate, then at his plate that still had a mound of nuggets left on it. "H-How did you do that?!" asked Tyler in disbelief, wondering how in the world that Pokémon could eat so fast.

Vince just shrugged his shoulders, "I was hungry, and I could probably eat like, a hundred more." exaggerated the Oshawott.

Jake rolled his eyes at his friends, becoming a little annoyed that they were getting off topic. "Focus guys! We have to figure out how to get revenge."

"But I don't wanna talk about revenge. That stuffs boring. All I wanna do is have more chicken nuggets." whined Vince.

Jake was now really annoyed, specifically at Vince and his lack of contribution to the group discussion. "No! You don't get any more food! Not until you give us an idea!" yelled Jake, angrily stamping a foot on the ground.

Vince sighed in defeat, not really wanting to participate but at the same time really wanting more nugs. Only thinking of his prize afterwards, he began to rack his brain for ideas; eventually looking down and spotting an all too familiar object on his stomach. "We could use my shell." suggested Vince, taking the scalchop off of his chest and showing it to his friends.

Both Jake and Tyler blinked a few times to make sure they weren't seeing things.

"Wait, you can take that off your chest?" realized Jake.

"Uhh, yeah." responded Vince, waving it in front of their faces, a little surprised that his friends didn't know that he could do this.

"I thought that was stuck to you for like... ever." commented Tyler.

Vince proudly just shook his head, "Nope, and watch. It can also do this..." added Vince, who activated his scalchop which prompted a blue blade of energy to form above the top of the shell.

"Woooaaahhh! That's so cool!" observed Tyler.

"I know, right?" beamed Vince, who was currently loving all this positive attention.

"Hey Vince? Can I hold it for a second?" requested Jake.

"Yeah, sure." responded the Oshawott, handing off the activated weapon to his friend

Jake began to closely examine the blade, seemingly getting lost in its deep blue color.

"Is there something wrong with it?" asked Vince, becoming a little concerned that his shell might be broken somehow.

Jake shook his head, all the while staring into the blade, "It's perfect." devilishly replied the Squirtle, now knowing exactly how their revenge was going to take place.

* * *

It was now a warm and cloudy Saturday afternoon. Kelvin was busy working in the garden, pulling weeds and tending to his vegetables as usual. Shula was sitting in a comfortable chair on the back porch, reading a magazine that touted 'Massive Weight Loss For Fire-Types With This _UNBELIEVABLE_ Trick'. Ben and Lucas were in the backyard, running and playing around with each other as they usually did. After a few rounds of tag, Ben managed to spot a pretty blue jay land on the lawn.

"Look at that bubby, it's a blue birdy." pointed out Ben, who curiously watched the small creature as it pecked around in the grass. "Let's try to catch it!"

"Okay." agreed Lucas.

And just like that, the two brothers went wildly charging at the blue-feathered creature, only for it to fly away when they got too close.

"Awww, it hates us." sadly mumbled Ben, as he watched the beautifully-colored bird fly up to the top of the roof and land on the tallest point.

It had always been a dream of Ben's to be able to fly like the birds outside. If he could fly, he wouldn't have to go to school, clean up his toys or take any more bubble baths. It was then that Ben realized something. What did the birds have that he didn't have? He had feathers, wings and a tail. Everything that's needed to fly. So why couldn't he? Looking over to his brother, he found him studying a large colony of ants that were doing 'ant things' on the sidewalk. Taking this opportunity while his brother was preoccupied, Ben jogged over to his dad to ask him something. "Daddy, can I ask you a question?"

Kelvin momentarily paused his weed pulling and looked to his right to find his oldest son eagerly gazing up at him. "Sure Benny, you can ask me anything." happily replied the Blaziken.

"Okay. Why can't I fly like that birdie?" asked Ben, pointing to the blue bird that was still perched on top of the roof. "I got feathers and everything."

Kelvin knew the science behind being able to fly, but really didn't have a solid answer at the moment that Ben would understand. "I'm not sure Benny. Umm, try asking mommy. She might have an answer." recommended the Blaziken, turning back towards his garden to continue weeding.

Ben ran over to the stairs that led up to the back porch and began hopping up each one. Eventually reaching the top, he made his way over to Shula's leg and grabbed a hold of a few of her feathers with his beak. Doing it with the intent to lightly tug on them to get his mom's attention.

Unluckily for the Blaziken, her son pulled a little too hard, plucking out about a half dozen or so feathers and causing Shula sharp pain in her leg. "Ouch! Hey! That really hurt Benny!" snapped Shula, rubbing the spot where there used to be feathers.

Ben quickly backed away from the Blaziken and spit out the orange feathers. Then dropping his head in sadness and in shame, feeling very guilty about hurting his mom. "I'm sorry mommy, I-I didn't mean to do it. I promise." sadly muttered Ben, who began to tear up, fearing an inevitable punishment.

Shula saw what her outburst had done to her son and immediately felt bad for making Ben cry. "Hey, it's alright Benny, c'mere." softly stated the Blaziken, holding out her talons to pick up her son.

Ben slowly wondered into Shula's reach, allowing himself to be picked up and placed on her lap.

The Blaziken wiped a tear from Ben's face and start smoothing down his ruffled up feathers. "Now, did you need something from me?" asked Shula, hoping that her son didn't just rip out a part of her leg for fun.

Ben sniffled and nodded his head, "Mommy, why can't I fly? I got the wings and feathers. So why can't I?"

Shula looked at her oldest son a little confused and curious as to why he would want to fly. She was just about to answer the question, stopping herself after thinking of something. "Did you already ask Daddy?" questioned Shula.

"Yeah, Daddy said to ask you because he didn't know." stated the Torchic.

Shula knew her husband's answer to be complete bullshit, knowing for a fact that Kelvin took a physics class in college that covered how birds were able to fly. "I'll tell you what Ben, go down there to daddy and ask your question again. This time, tell him that if he doesn't answer it, he will get NO action tonight." instructed the Blaziken.

Ben looked up at Shula completely confused, with his mom taking notice.

"Don't worry Ben, he'll know what it means, and he'll answer your question too." assured the Blaziken, placing her son on the porch floor and scooting him towards the stairs.

Ben had no idea what 'action' meant, but his mom made is sound very important. Reaching his dad a second time, he pecked the Blaziken's arm and once again asked, "Daddy, why can't I fly?"

Kelvin jabbed his weeding tool into the soil and slowly looked over to his son, "Didn't mommy already answer your question?" inquired Kelvin, a little confused as to why his son was back down here asking the same question for a second time.

"Uhh, no. She said to tell you that if you don't answer my question, that you will get no action tonight. Whatever that means." responded Ben.

Kelvin just stared Ben, at the moment quite shocked that Shula would tell her still very young son to say something like that. At the same time feeling a little crushed due to his wife giving him an ultimatum. Something she had never done in the past before. Deeply sighing, not wanting to miss out on some nightly action, he prepared himself to give his son the bad news. "I regret to tell you this Ben, but Arceus didn't make you with flight in mind. So I'm sorry to say it, but you'll probably never fly." regrettably informed Kelvin, cutting straight to the point and being quite blunt about it too.

Ben's curious and content demeanor quickly changed into a very angry one, not wanting to accept that he would never be able to fly. "Arceus is a big butthead." angrily mumbled Ben. Not knowing who this Arceus fellow was, just knowing that he couldn't fly because of him.

**A SUDDEN TRANSITION INTO THE HALL OF ORIGIN(A MYSTICAL PLACE FAR FROM THIS WORLD)...**

Unluckily for Ben, a certain divine being named Giratina, heard the insult and raced down a long hallway to tease his fellow legendary. Bursting through the door, consequently breaking it's hinges beyond repair, he relayed the very important message to his dear friend Arceus, who was very busy pestering a certain sixteen-year-old Umbreon.

**(Giratina)_"Dude, you just got roasted by a four-year-old!"_**

**(Arceus)"You know, it would be really nice if you just knocked on the door instead of destroying it. I have no idea how many times I've told you to do that."**

_**"Well, according to this list that I so happen to carry with me 24/7. You've told me around 1,454,133 times. Plus one for telling me just now which brings it to a total of one million, four hundred and fifty-four thousand, one hundred and thirty-"**_

**"ALRIGHT I GET IT! Now, what's this about a four-year-old roasting me?"**

**_"Oh yeah. You're gonna love this. A little Torchic from a completely different fan fiction just called you a 'butthead' for not letting him be able to fly."_**

**"Okay? I've had Pokémon call me a whole lot worse before, and didn't I tell you to stop breaking the fourth wall?"**

**_"Uhhh, no. Not during this week at least. And didn't you just break IT by mentioning IT again?"_**

**"Dammit"**

**_"Yes! That's a point for me for making you break your own rule. Now I'm gonna head back to see if this Torchic's life gets any juicier. Hopefully it involves roasting you some more, that'd be hilarious."_**

Arceus rolled his eyes while he used Psychic to shove Giratina out of the doorway and slammed the half busted door shut. He then returned to his daily routine of making the Umbreon's life more, um... let's just say... intriguing. His mind, however, began to gradually drift back towards the young Torchic that Giratina had mentioned earlier. After a few minutes of mental torment, Arceus caved and took a quick glance into Ben's future to see if this Pokémon was worth messing around with. He saw nothing at first, only darkness and emptiness, which he thought was rather strange. Using a little more of his strength, he powered through what seemed to be a black cloak of some sort. Eventually breaking through, he immediately sensed extreme pain, suffering and sorrow in the Torchic's near future. While at the same time also foreseeing excitement, friendship and love in the not too distant future as well. Arceus had now been witness Ben's fate, deciding that he need not to mess with a Pokémon that was already destined to experience so much suffering and pain as it was.

* * *

"Now, now Benny. We don't call Arceus or anyone else that, alright?" warned Kelvin, slowly shaking his head.

"Okay, but what is a Arceus?" curiously asked Ben.

"Arceus is a Pokémon Benny. He lives in the heavens and is the god of all creatures great and small. He made the plants, animals and everything. He even made you." explained Kelvin, who cutely booped Ben on the beak as he said the word 'you'.

The Torchic just stood there, taking in all of this new information, discovering a small discrepancy with what his dad had just said. "I thought I came from mommy's tummy." stated Ben.

Kelvin smiled at his son, "Technically yes, you did come from from mommy's tummy. But Arceus created us so that mommies and daddies could have babies, like you and Lucas." explained the Blaziken.

Ben looked at himself and then over to his brother, who was still observing the ant colony. Maybe this Arceus wasn't so bad after all if he was nice enough to give him a brother to play with. "I'm gonna go play with bubber now." informed Ben, who gave his dad a quick hug before running off towards the other Torchic.

After Ben had left his dad's company, Kelvin really didn't make a whole lot of progress on the rest of the garden. All he could do now was periodically kick up some dirt with his weeding tool and wonder why Shula had given him an ultimatum. That was something his wife had never done before, really worried that she was still mad at him for last night.

Now it wasn't that he actually though that Shula was ugly. In fact, she was the hottest Blaziken that he had ever laid eyes on. It was just, when he first met her, she was toned, like, really toned. With a 6 pack, muscular arms and everything. But over the past 4 years, a lot of their free time went to taking care of Ben and Lucas. Leaving less time to go to the gym or just to work out in general. This of course eventually lead to the pair of Blazikens to adopt 'mom' and 'dad bods', ultimately leading to the incident last night at the dinner table.

Determined not to remain on Shula's bad side, Kelvin got up and made his way over to the stairs that climbed their way up to the back porch. Looking to his left he saw Ben and Lucas who were now playing in a blue, Squirtle themed sandbox, kicking up sand and laughing as they did so. Kelvin loved both of them so dearly, hoping that this friction between him and Shula wouldn't lead to a major breakup. Climbing the stairs up to the back porch, he looked at his wife who didn't even bother to address his presence, which kinda bummed him out a little.

"Hey Shula?" began Kelvin in a saddened tone, "I'm really sorry about last night. I need you to believe me when I say that I didn't mean a thing of what I said at the dining room table."

Shula slightly lowered her magazine, as well as her head to look at her husband above the sunglasses that she wore.

"I just thought that the 'fit' version of you, back in our college days, was a little more sexier than what you look like now. But don't get me wrong, you still look fine as hell the way you are now. And I'll be the first to tell you that _you_, _my wife_, are as far from ugly as any Pokémon could ever get." concluded Kelvin, hoping that his apology would be good enough for his partner.

An apology was the last thing Shula was expecting from her husband, feeling that every word was genuine and true to heart. Plopping the magazine onto the seat beside her, she got up and approached Kelvin. Closing the gap between the fellow Blaziken, she leaned in close and placed her left talon behind Kelvin's head, keeping the right one at her side.

"I accept your apology, but..." paused Shula, who in one quick move put her husband's testicles into an iron grip with her right talon. All the while looking him dead in the eye as she did so.

Kelvin immediately tensed up and tightly winced upon experiencing the immense pain that manifested in his groin. Really hoping that Ben or Lucas weren't watching this unfold. "Sh-Sh-Shu-la, you're s-squeezing th-th-them." squealed Kelvin in a high-pitched voice.

"If you ever call me ugly again, or fail to tell me that Ben is getting bullied in school, which we'll talk about later, you WILL lose these. Got it?" threatened Shula in a whispery-like tone.

"Y-Y-Yes d-dear. P-P-Please l-let them go. begged Kelvin.

Shula released her grip and inflicted a rough ball tap to top it all off, leaving her husband to fall on his knees and grasp his junk in pain while groaning out loud. She then bent down to Kelvin's new height and pecked him on the beak with a kiss. "I love you, and I think your pretty handsome the way you are too." cooed Shula, giving her husband one final kiss before standing upright and traveling back inside the house.

Kelvin remain in his weakened state on the porch floor, completely confused at to what had just happened to him. Although he did get a nice view of Shula's ass while she was walking away, the Blaziken still couldn't believe that his wife could get mad enough to do him this dirty. He would definitely have to be even more careful of what he said around Shula from now on. After a few minutes of taking some deep breaths, he now had the strength to slowly get back on his feet, still feeling more than enough pain in his groin. Slowly turning around, he found Ben and Lucas at the bottom of the stairs, both of them completely covered in sand and curiously looking up at him.

Both boys had no idea why their dad was holding his pee-pee, with Lucas being the first one to ask a question.

"Does daddy have to pee?"

Kelvin shook his head and used his free hand to motion for the Torchics to come up to the porch. "Nope. Now come up here you two! It's time to go inside!"

"Did mommy rip your balls off?" asked Ben.

Kelvin momentarily paused his waving and looked at Ben, a little dissapointed at Shula for teaching their son to say all these things. "N-No. Not yet at least. Now will you two get up here. We have to get you featherbrains bathed and ready for lunch." informed Kelvin, getting possibly the worst reaction he could out of his kids given the recent turn of events.

"You have to catch us first!" shouted Ben, running in the opposite direction of the porch with Lucas following close behind his brother.

Kelvin just stood at the top of the stairs, still clinging on to his aching balls while he let out a massive sigh. "Well, shit." annoyingly stated the Blaziken, not wanting to have to hunt down his kids in his current condition but knowing he was going to have to do it anyway.

* * *

**(A)"Alright kiddies, what lesson have we learned today?"**

**(G)_"Uhhh. An angry woman is a dangerous woman?"_**

**"You're absolutely right and if you wanna read more shenanigans that include yours truly, the almighty Arceus, as well as Giratina over there..."**

_**"Sup"**_

**"You should check out a fanfiction called _That Glaceon_. With a link and tons more information being located after this group of words. This has been a public service announcement by the Pokémon god himself who wants you to love yourself and doesn't want you to do drugs :)**

* * *

Sorry for the potentially abrupt or weird ending to this chapter. My original outline for this chapter would've reached well over 10,000 words in its finished state, which I feel is a little too long for a single chapter. With this info in mind, chapter 7 is the longest chapter I've written so far and I'm completley clueless as to how long 8 will be. **But ****please ****don't stop reading here** as there's some important info following this sentence such as this story's very first **teaser** for the turning point of Ben's life and a **story promotion** for one of my favorite Pokémon fanfics of all time. But before we get into that stuff, everyone knows the drill: Favorite, Follow, Review; the whole shebang(Anyone who does any three of these **WILL get a shoutout** in the next/future chapters, just sayin'). What's that? You don't have an account for this website, but would still like get updates on when new chapters go live? Well just give my Twitter a follow: **('at' symbol)****Ben99_561**(The profile picture is a screaming Torchic) as I do tweet out release dates and on the day of new chapter releases. Speaking of new chapters, I'm not really sure if another chapter will release before the end of 2019. As you all know, Pokémon Sword and Shield comes out... tomorrow as a matter of fact and I plan to play the hell out of it. I also really want to read some other fanfics that I've been wanting to enjoy for the past few months. Not really having the time to do so because I'm soo busy writing this story. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, advice, or literally anything, give me a PM on this website or a DM on twitter. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, remember not to drink and drive on New Year's Eve or on any day of the year for that matter. That's all from the 2019 version of me, meaning that I will(probably) talk to all you wonderful people in 2020.

**TEASER #1:** A seed has been planted...

-It's not much, but the first teaser for anything shouldn't give a whole lot away.

-As of right now I plan to have 4 more teasers occur before the turning point of Ben's life happens, with the next one planned to be in chapter 9.

**_That Glaceon_ Promo:**

**There are some heavy references to my all time favorite Pokémon fanfic called _That Glaceon_, in this chapter. It is a very well written and quite lengthy story about an unlucky Umbreon that is really worth the read. I'm pretty sure you'd only be doing yourself a favor by checking it out. If you're any at all interested in reading it, the link can be found directly below this thicc version of text. If the link isn't working, or you just don't want to use the link for some weird reason. Search for the story with the word 'polished' after it, like this: '_That Glaceon_ polished'. Adding 'polished' to the title will make it so that the only search result is _That Glaceon_ and nothing else.**

**Another DISCLAIMER: _That Glaceon_ does NOT belong to me, nor has it ever belonged to me. I do have permission from the author to promote their story.**

**Link to That Glaceon:**

s/11376479/1/That-Glaceon-Polished


	8. Foreshadowed Pain

Welcome back everyone! I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas/holiday last decade. I didn't get a whole lot of fancy things this Christmas, but you people managed to gift me and the story a massive 875+ views. We're so close to that magical four digit number and also hopefully closing in on the story's first ever review as well. Okay, we have a couple peeps to shout-out before we get started: **Luanslayer92**, **Ac3MOOn**, **DebraLove** and **lisa143**, thank all of you for following/favoriting me or the story. As always, I really appreciate all the support and I hope you guys continue to enjoy reading. As a reminder to everyone else with a account, I will give **shout-outs** to anyone who Favorites, Follows or Reviews this story. Don't have a fanfiction,net account? Well fear not because I post chapter releases and other updates on my Twitter: **('at' symbol)Ben99_561**. My profile picture is a Torchic :3 With the usual stuff already announced, **this** chapter will include: a brick, a broken pair of ankles, the same Oshawott's scalchop from before, a rawst berry and a message machine.

**DISCLAIMER: Owning Pokémon? I've never heard of it :P**

**A.I.B.R.**

-All mature Fire-types in this story eventually develop the natural ability to completely resist being burned by attacks. But Ben is not yet old enough to have developed said immunity, explaining why he gets burned in this chapter. The how is up to you people to discover ;)

* * *

**Chapter 8: Foreshadowed Pain**

The remainder of the weekend flew by for Ben and his family. And in no time at all, the young Torchic found himself well into the next week of school.

It was now Wednesday.

Multiple groups of young, excited students were pouring out of the cafeteria. All of them clearly anxious to participate in what usually happened after lunch time.

Our two troublemakers: Ben and Elliott, having just enjoyed a very cheesy macaroni and cheese lunch, were currently following closely behind Mrs. Clair. Her class was making their way to the parking lot, with both of the friends highly anticipating the half hour of freedom, fun and enjoyment that was commonly known to the students as recess. After reaching the vast expanse of pavement, Mrs. Clair listed off the outside rules that she relayed to her class every time they would get to play outdoors. "No hitting. No biting. No throwing pebbles. No kissing. No going on the road. And most importantly... No running off! And no battling!" The last two rules being stated while the Gardevoir stared directly at the troublemaking Torchic and Snivy duo. "Alright. Everyone got that?" Getting nods from all of her students, she then motioned both of her hands towards the parking lot, letting her pupils know that they were free to roam. The group of Pokémon quickly dissipated in hurried screams of excitement and laughter. Leaving just Ben, Elliott and a third Pokémon to remain standing by their slightly underpaid teacher.

So far, recess for our two friends hadn't really gone so well if you recall previously. On top of getting in **BIG** trouble with their teacher for battling, they were also not allowed to wander beyond Mrs. Clair's vision. If they did and were caught? They'd find themselves telekinetically lifted off the ground and slowly floating back to her. A spot on the parking lot already reserved for a timeout that usually lasted most of recess. While having to worry about that, they also had to remember to steer clear of the lower patch of bushes where Jake and his fellow bullies liked to hang around. Both of the boys not wanting to risk a repeat of what happened a few weeks ago. But despite all of these bottlenecks, Ben and Elliott never failed to have buttloads of fun during their semi-restrictive recess period.

"Oh oh, Elliott! Do you wanna play tag?" eagerly asked Ben. The Torchic now happily jumping up and down while rapidly flapping his tiny wings.

Elliott nodded to his friend with equal excitement; quickly tagging Ben and then immediately running from his friend. "You're _it_!" playfully yelled back the Snivy.

"Hey! No fair!" And with that, Ben began hot pursuit after his friend. The chase was on...

**The Third Pokémon's POV**

_A Magby named Marcus happened to be the third Pokémon standing next to Mrs. Clair. The Fire-type silently watching the pair chase each other around the parking lot. He remembered what was requested of him: to lure down Ben and Elliott to the lower patch of bushes for 'a big surprise'. Having been given this mission on Monday and completely forgetting about it on Tuesday, Marcus decided that today would be a great day to complete it. The main motivating factor being a bag of candy that was promised to him if he completed his mission. Him being extra hungry at the moment due to not being a very big fan of macaroni and cheese for some reason._

_Now Marcus wasn't really sure of how he was going to pull off said mission. Mrs. Clair always kept a watchful eye on the pair, especially after the battling incident. He somehow needed to cause a distraction, and it just so happened that Arceus would provide one. Turning around, Marcus gazed in disgust and confusion as he watched a Smoochum kiss a brick that had fallen off of the exterior wall of the school building. He had no idea why she was doing this, but he did know that she was breaking one of the many outside rules._

_"Mrs. Clair! Jayla's eating a brick!" tattled Marcus, pointing towards the wrongdoer._

_"What!?" answered a confused Gardevoir, quickly turning to spot the Smoochum who was indeed kissing and sucking on a brick. "Oh jeez! Jayla honey, don't kiss that! Its dirty!" scolded Mrs. Clair as she frantically rushed over to stop the clueless Pokémon._

_Marcus knew that this was probably his best chance to complete his mission. Leaving the scene, he rushed over to the pair of playful Pokémon in the hopes of joining in on their game of tag..._

* * *

"Thats cheating Elliott! You can't use your vines to tag me. You have to use your hands." angrily explained Ben. Quite upset that Elliott had just used an extra long extension of himself to tag him.

The Snivy slowly retracted one of his vines back into his body, "It's not cheating if it's a part of me!" snapped back Elliott while crossing his arms.

"Yes it is! I _don't_ have vines, so that means you _can't_ use yours! It's only fair."

Elliott let out a huge sigh and grumpily rolled his eyes. "Fine. I won't use my vines. I run faster than you anyway."

The pair had been too busy arguing about each other's anatomy to notice the fast approaching Magby who came to a dead stop behind them.

"Hi Elliott! Hi Ben!" hastily greeted Marcus, "Can I play tag with you guys?"

The two friends turned their attention to the Pokémon that now made their duo into an unofficial trio. Ben being the first to respond, "Sure Marcus! You can play tag with us."

"Okay! You two are _it_, so that means you have to chase me." instructed the Magby. Quickly taking off after finishing his speedily spoken sentence.

Ben and Elliott looked at each other for a few seconds, both of them a little confused. Eventually shrugging their shoulders, they decided to go after Marcus anyway. The chase was now on... again.

It didn't take long for the pair of friends to notice that Marcus was actually quite faster than both of them. Neither of the boys able to successfully tag the speedy Fire-type after a good minute of chasing.

"Wow... Marcus is... really fast..." huffed Elliott, trying to pick up the pace in an attempt to catch up.

Ben, on the other hand, was unfortunately the slowest of the three and had started falling behind by a good bit. "Slow... down... Elliott..." wheezed Ben. Actually having to come to a stop and lean over in an attempt to catch his breath. "I'll.. catch up... with you guys... later..."

Elliott was way too focused on tagging Marcus to hear Ben's gasping request. The Snivy also failing to realize that he was getting closer and closer to a certain group of bushes. Finally managing to close the distance between him and Marcus, he reached out with a little hand in the attempt to finish this silly game once and for all. But instead of making satisfying bodily contact, Elliott promptly got juked out of his mind.

Marcus had made a super sharp left turn into an opening in the bushes; absolutely and utterly destroying the Snivy's ankles in the process. Elliott, having been made a victim of a career ending juke, tripped over himself and made not-so-satisfying contact with the hot, unforgiving pavement. "Ouch" mumbled Elliott, doing his best to fight back tears caused by the pain from his fall. Getting up off the ground, he brushed off some pebbles that stuck to him and returned to where Marcus had just embarrassed him. Not seeing the Magby anywhere, he started calling out for him, still wanting to continue their game of tag. "Marcus?! Come out come out wherever you are! Marcus!"

A rustling in the bushes nearby caught Elliott's attention, watching as Marcus emerged from the shrubbery. Wasting no time, the Snivy rushed up to him, tagged the Pokémon and immediately ran away while shouting, "TAG! You're _it_!" Booking it as fast he could, Elliott sprinted a few yards before looking back to see if he was being followed... but he wasn't. Marcus remained standing where he had last seen him, motionless and quite nervous-looking. Unsure of what was going on, Elliott slowly made his way back towards the Magby. Making sure to keep a safe distance so that he couldn't be easily tagged back.

"Uhh Marcus? I tagged you. Thats means you're it. Now you gotta chase me." playfully informed Elliott, trying his best to get the game going again.

Instead of responding, Marcus just stood there, extremely unsure about executing what was just asked of him.

"You _do_ know how to play tag, right?"

A whisper within the bushes caught the Magby's attention, _"Do it Marcus! Or I'll beat you up every day for the rest of the school year!"_ threatened the voice.

Elliott, who didn't hear the whispering, watched as Marcus traded quick, nervous glances between himself and something located within the bushes. "What's wrong Marcus? Is... is there someone in the b-bushes?"

Marcus fixated his gaze, deeply inhaled, and before Elliott could react, let loose a close range Ember attack right onto the Snivy's face. Only a few seconds of intense heat followed. That easily being enough time to char and burn his target until most of Elliott's body became a dark brown and black color. The spewing of fire stopped, leaving the Snivy to uneasily sway back and forth before falling face first into the ground. His eyes replaced with black swirls while smoke emitted from the burns on his head and upper body. Marcus stared at the Pokémon that he had just done in, immediately feeling guilty for what he had just done.

Ben stood just a few short yards away, unnoticed, having just witnessed Elliott get cooked alive. At first unable to do anything other than stare in complete shock and disbelief that Marcus would hurt Elliott like that. He then felt a burning sensation starting to grow inside of him. That burning feeling soon revealing itself to be extreme hatred and malice towards the Magby. Determined to avenge his friend, Ben got a running start and charged directly at Marcus. "YOU GET AWAY FROM MY FRIEND!" angrily shouted the Torchic, right before slamming his body as hard as he could against the Magby. The attack sending Marcus stumbling backwards while holding his stomach in a hunched over position, moaning and groaning in pain as he did so.

"YOU DON'T HURT MY FRIEND!" screamed Ben, proceeding to once again tackle Marcus before he could retaliate. This time his attack sending the Magby flying back and slamming against a stone wall.

Marcus was now feeling pain all over, especially in his mid section. Weakly opening his eyes, he watched as the Torchic took angry steps towards him. Not wanting to get attacked again, Marcus started to scooch along the ground. Trying his best to keep distance between him and the angry Pokémon. "I d-didn't want to do it. Th-they told me to do it." frantically stated Marcus, pointing a trembling finger towards the bushes.

Ben took a quick look in the direction; seeing no one in or around the thick bushes. "LIAR! YOU HURT ELLIOT! AND NOW I AM GONNA HURT YOU!" With a running start, Ben jumped up into the air and came back down leading with his two sharp feet, intent on slicing the crap out of the fellow Fire-type. Just as he was about to make lethal contact with Marcus, Ben felt something hard and fast hit him out of mid air.

The powerful contact sent the Torchic tumbling to the ground with no hopes of slowing up or stopping. But instead of hitting asphalt, he felt himself get caught by something... or someone. Opening his eyes, he quickly realized who had caught him. It was the Buizel. The same Buizel who punched him in the stomach a few weeks prior. Fearful of what the Pokémon might do next, Ben tried to squirm free from the Buizel's grip but was easily subdued by two strong arms. One of them quickly wrapping around his windpipe, making it next to near impossible for him to breathe.

"Oh no. Jake's not done with you yet." foreshadowed Tyler, making sure to keep an overly tight hold on the small Pokémon.

Rapidly spinning and hovering in place just a few inches from the ground, was Jake. Him having just used a mid air Rapid Spin to hit the Torchic out of the air. Emerging from his shell, he skillfully landed on his feet and shot an angry glance at the Magby. The Fire-type currently hunched over and holding his stomach due to the tackle attacks he endured. "Wow. You couldn't even beat the stupid Torchic? You're more useless than I thought." insulted Jake as he walked up to the Pokémon.

Marcus took a step back, confused and concerned about what he had just heard. "Wha-what?"

"I should have let that Torchic tear you to pieces 'cause weak Pokémon like you don't deserve to be saved... EVER!"

Marcus tried his best to hold back tears, not liking a single thing he was getting told. "Do... do I still get c-candy?"

Jake immediately shoved the Magby to the ground, "NO YOU DON'T GET ANY CANDY! Stupid Pokémon like you don't deserve ANYTHING! I should beat you up right now for being so weak and stupid!"

Marcus immediately burst into tears after making contact with the ground, uncontrollably rubbing his eyes while large, salty tears streamed down his face.

_(Vince(the Oshawott) peaked his head out of the bushes to see what was going on just outside of squad's hiding place. Looking around, he spotted nothing new in terms of what happened every day down here. Let's see: Jake was now bullying a little kid to the point of crying, a knocked out and probably badly burned Snivy was lying on the ground and Tyler was currently choking the life out of a little Torchic. Yep. It seemed like a pretty average day to Vince. But today would be different. Because today would be way worse than he, or any other Pokémon could've ever imagined.)_

"P-please don't b-beat me up." bawled Marcus, "I don't w-want the c-ca-candy anymore. Pleeeaaase- please don't beat me up."

"Then get lost before I spray you with Water Gun." threatened Jake.

Getting up from his spot on the ground, Marcus blindly ran past the Squirtle. Making it halfway past Tyler only to be purposefully tripped by the Buizel's tail.

"Hey! Watch where you're walking you useless idiot!" raged Tyler, playing it off as if it was all the Magby's fault. "You almost stepped on my tail!"

Marcus cried even harder from his new position on the ground; the fall having done a number on his hands and knees. Weakly getting himself up, he noticed that Elliott wasn't too far away from him. The Magby now wishing that he hadn't done what his so called "friends" had told him to do for them. Rounding the corner, he started running up towards the top of the parking lot in the hopes of finding some help.

"What a cry baby." scoffed Jake. Actually being kinda proud of himself for ruining another Preschooler's recess, but he wasn't done yet.

"What do we do with Ben, Jake?" asked Tyler, still gripping a Torchic that had been barely able to breath this whole time.

Jake turned to his next victim and smiled. "Drop him on the ground."

Tyler did as he was told. Releasing his strong grip around the Torchic's windpipe, he allowed the Pokémon to simply fall to the ground.

Tears filled Ben's eyes as he struggled to breathe, constantly choking and gasping for air. The whole experience being quite painful and scary for the young Torchic.

Walking to the oxygen deprived Pokémon, Jake stood over the Fire-type and slapped him on the side of the head. "You should have never bitten me you little pipsqueak." snarled Jake, "Now you're gonna pay the price for messin' with me, and the Drop Squad."

Ben looked up from his position on the ground and locked eyes with Jake. "Y-you are a big m-meanie, and you always w-will be one."

"Yeah?" began Jake, who quickly wound up and punched Ben across the face, consequently making the Torchic loudly cry and squeal out in pain. "But you will always be a weak and worthless chicken."

_(Vince couldn't believe his eyes. His closest friend from back in their nursery days was now beating up a preschooler over being bitten arm. All while playing a game that the trio had originally created and played back in kindergarten. A game that Jake always took way too seriously. A game that always ended in someone else getting severely hurt, and it was about to get so much worse.)_

Jake looked down upon the suffering Pokémon, still convinced that he had not experienced enough pain. "_This_ is what you get for biting my arm..." Winding up a foot, Jake proceeded to kick the Torchic in the gut, not letting up one bit. "And _this_ is what you get for messing with the Drop Squad." The Water-type delivering another kick, this time to the Fire-type's side.

Ben was now rolling around on the pavement in complete agony, crying in sharp breaths due to the assaults on his body. Never in his life had he felt so much pain in this short amount of time.

Briefly relishing in the pain-filled screams of his victim, Jake looked around the immediate area and spotted Vince who was peeking his head out of the bushes. Giving his friend a smug smile, he said: "Hey Vince! Do you remember your idea from Friday?"

"Ye- umm... no. No! I don't remember." badly lied Vince, not wanting Jake to use his shell to hurt the Torchic any further.

"Your shell idea you idiot. Power up your shell and give it to me." demanded Jake, holding out a hand to receive the instrument of torture.

"N-no! I'm not gonna give you it! It's _my_ shell and you can't have it." insisted Vince, taking the scalchop off of his chest and holding it behind his back.

Jake's smile quickly transitioned into an annoyed frown. "Hey Tyler? Come here." requested the Squirtle. After whispering a few things to the Buizel, both Jake and Tyler angrily gazed at Vince before walking towards him.

"No means no guys. You can't have my shell!" shouted Vince, starting to get real mad at his friends persistence.

"We don't listen to Pokémon who _aren't_ in the Drop Squad." informed Jake.

Vince froze and stared at them in disbelief. "What? I'm- I'm not part of the Drop Squad anymore?"

At that moment, Jake and Tyler pounced. Both of the boys making quick work of pinning Vince and stealing his scalchop.

"WOW. That was easy. I'm glad we dropped Vince as a team member. He's really weak." spoke Tyler, not caring that Vince was literally three feet away from him.

While Tyler was making Vince feel sadder and sadder, Jake was busy trying to figure out how to get the shell to start working. "It won't turn on. How do I turn it on Vince?"

The Oshawott was NOT in the mood to be helping his "friends," choosing only to cross his arms and say: "I'm not telling you anything."

"Fine. If you won't tell us, I'll smash your shell into a million pieces." threatened Jake, raising the scalchop above his head like he was going to throw it onto ground.

"NOO! Don't break it!" begged Vince, tearing up at the thought of his precious chest piece getting destroyed. "My mommy gave me that shell. Please don't break it Jake."

Lowering his arm, Jake moved the scalchop closer to Vince, not having to say a single word to explain what he wanted from him.

Sighing in defeat, Vince reached out with a hand, made contact, and effortlessly activated it. A familiar blue blade of energy suddenly appearing slightly above it. To say that Vince was worried about what Jake was going to do with his now activated scalchop would be a massive understatement. Vince. Was. Terrified. For himself, but mainly for the defenseless Torchic that still remained crying on the ground.

Jake once again closely examined the blade of energy that protruded from the shell before turning towards the sobbing Torchic. In the blink of an eye, he wound up and slashed the Torchic's left leg, cutting deep into the flesh.

Ben let out a terrifying, bloodcurdling cry after feeling his leg being sliced, unable to scream loud enough to express how badly it really hurt. Blood now profusely dripped from the deep wound, gradually creating a small puddle on the ground. A few more long, high pitched screams escaped Ben's beak before he was able to talk again. "I-I-I w-want my m-m-mo-mmy." bawled the Torchic, now wishing that he had never played tag with Marcus, or anyone else.

Tyler began to hysterically laugh at the Pokémon. "HAHAHA! Look at the little baby calling for his mommy! What a loser."

Jake didn't say or do anything. The only thing he was doing was enjoying the Torchic writhing in pure agony. To him, this was the best part of doing what he did: watching his victims suffer. All of this made him feel so good about himself and most of all, it made him feel invincible. Looking down at the shell he held in his hand, having no more use for it, tossed it back to the ex member of the Drop Squad.

_(Vince watched as his scalchop landed right in front of him, only able to guiltily gaze at the shell that now had tiny drops of blood all over it. Jake had forever tainted his prized possession. No amount of soap or water could ever wash away the fact that HIS shell had been used to inflict severe pain on a completely innocent Pokémon.)_

Turning back to the Torchic, Jake smiled, already knowing what he would do to finish off this Pokémon once and for all. "Your mommy isn't here to help you now." grimly stated the Squirtle, who then deeply inhaled and let loose a boiling hot Scald attack.

Ben felt himself get doused with the hottest water that he had ever experienced. Unable to scream or even move due to the sheer amount of stinging and pain that the water inflicted on his body. After a few seconds, the flow of boiling water stopped, leaving the Torchic to lay in a puddle of hot water on the asphalt. Ben's body was now in complete shock, way too weak and in too much pain to move a single muscle. Soon finding sleep to be the most peaceful option, his eyelids started becoming heavier and heavier by the second. Unable to fight it any longer, Ben passed out...

Jake started inhaling once again to hose down the Torchic for a second time, but his efforts to induce further harm were quickly halted by Vince who shoulder checked him to the ground.

"Stop it Jake. Stop it! Look at him! He's bleeding! He's had enough!" worryingly yelled Vince.

Tyler immediately shoulder checked Vince in retaliation. NO non-member of the Drop Squad was going to treat Jake like that and get away with it. "No one attacks the leader of the Drop Squad and gets away with it!" shouted the Buizel.

Vince rolled his eyes and watched as Jake quickly got back on his feet and dusted himself off. "_I_ decide when he's had enough." fumed the Squirtle, pointing a finger at himself.

"B-but Jake! He- he might... die!"

"I don't care..." coldly replied Jake, "He bit me, and I'm just getting my revenge."

_(Vince watched helplessly from the ground as Jake inhaled for another attack, this time powerless to stop it from happening. Dropping his head and closing his eyes, he wished really hard for something to happen that would stop all of this horribleness. Luckily for him, Arceus was feeling quite generous today.)_

"HEY! You get away from him Jake!" shouted a voice.

The Drop Squad and Vince all looked towards the source of the demand, seeing an angry looking Eevee and Zorua charging in their direction.

Jake nearly choked on the water he was just going to shoot out of his mouth, knowing that they couldn't stick around much longer. Really not wanting to get busted for everything that had just happened in the last 15 minutes. "Drop Squad members RETREAT! Except Vince." instructed the Squirtle, giving the Oshawott a very unfriendly glare. And just like that, Jake and Tyler made themselves one with the bushes.

Vince also got to his feet, fearful that if he stuck around, he might get blamed for the whole thing. Taking one last look at the bleeding and wet Torchic, he couldn't help but feel ever responsible and guilty for what had happened to the poor Pokémon. Turning on a dime, the Oshawott also made himself one with the bushes, just as Blake and Zack reached the injured pair of Pokémon. Each of the boys ran to a Pokémon's side, both of them trying their best to wake up the two preschoolers. It not taking very long for Zach to wake up Elliott.

"Hey Blake! I... I think Elliott's waking up!" excitedly announced Zack, having noticed that the Snivy's eyelids started to twitch and slowly open.

Blake shot a nervous glance over to his friend, the Eevee getting more and more worried by the second. No matter how hard he shoved and rocked the sopping wet Torchic, he couldn't seem to wake him up. "Z-Zack? I'm-I'm getting scared. Ben won't wake up."

"They're over here Mrs. C!" shouted another voice.

Blake and Zack turned to see a Magby round the corner. The Fire-type being followed closely by Mrs. Clair who's eyes about popped out of her head. "ARCEUS ALMIGHTY!" shrieked the Gardevoir, having gotten her first look at the carnage that included a burnt Snivy and a wet and unconscious Torchic. Running over to Ben, she knelt down next to him, cautiously picked him up and cradled him in her arms. Quite relieved to feel that the Torchic still had emotions emitting from him, indicating that he was still alive... for now at least.

While all of this was going on, Elliott had gained full consciousness. Weakly opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was an all too familiar Magby, standing only a few feet away from him. The Snivy soon became fully aware of who the Pokémon actually was and wasted no time in scrambling to his feet, then running and hiding hiding behind Mrs. Clair.

"What's wrong Elliott?" questioned the Gardevoir.

Elliott cautiously peaked around and pointed directly at the Magby. "M-Marcus hurt me with his f-fire."

Mrs. Clair twisted her head around to Marcus who immediately dropped his gaze to the ground in guilt before starting to cry. The Magby, like all young children, fearful of what punishment would proceed his actions.

Sighing was the only thing Mrs. Clair could do at the moment; not really feeling too great about the 15 Poké an hour that she was getting paid right now. "Elliott. Can you grab onto my skirt for me?"

Elliott shyly grabbed onto a strand of Mrs. Clair's skirt thingy, a little unsure of why his teacher told him to do so. Fortunately for him, he would find out soon enough.

The Gardevoir then focused her attention on the three other Pokémon. "Okay you three. I'm gonna take these two to the nurses office. When I come back, I want a FULL explanation of what happened here. Okay?"

"Yes Mrs. C." mumbled the boys, with Marcus clearly being more nervous about this whole situation as opposed to Zack and Blake.

Closing her eyes, Mrs. Clair focused up and used Teleport; her, Ben and Elliott vanishing from from the parking lot...

**...**

...And reappearing right in front of the door to the nurses office. After knocking in a not so rhythmic pattern, the slab of variable privacy opened to reveal a Sylveon who wore a white nurses hat that featured a pink plus sign in the middle of it. The Fairy-type's jaw dropped upon seeing the two injured Pokémon that accompanied the Gardevoir, first noticing the Torchic and the massive cut on his leg. "Q-quick! Get Elliott on a bed! I've got Ben!" instructed Sylvie, using a pair of her ribbons to gently grab the Torchic from the fellow Fairy-type's cradled arms.

Mrs. Clair quickly did what she was told; picking up Elliott and sitting him on the edge of a bed. Meanwhile, Sylvie had already placed Ben on a special bed and was now busy gathering all of the needed bandages, potions and sprays; all four of her ribbons doing a different task at once. "You can head back Mrs. Clair. I've got it from here." assured the Sylveon.

"Thank you Sylvie. I'll be down in an hour or so check up on them." informed the Gardevoir, right before teleporting back to the parking lot.

Gathering the last of her supplies, Sylvie rushed over to Ben's side and placed the tray littered with medical supplies next to him. Placing a hospital-grade mask over her muzzle, she closely examined the deep cut, unfortunately discovering that the wound would need a few stitches. Picking and choosing a few items from her tray, Sylvie cleaned the cut and skillfully stitched the wound shut. After spraying down the rest of Ben's body with a Super Potion, she transferred the Torchic to the bed beside Elliott. That not only making things easier on her, but it also relaxed Elliott quite a bit knowing that his best friend was at his side. Grabbing one of the Snivy's arms with a ribbon, Sylvie outstretched it and aimed a bottle of Burn Heal at the badly burned parts of his arm. "Are you ready Elliott? This will sting a little."

Elliott preemptively winced, actually wincing a bit harder at the stinging that the spray caused, slowly becoming accustomed to the dull pain he constantly felt while his burns were being treated. A good twenty minutes of that passed, with Elliott's burns finally being all healed up. While Sylvie was transitioning from a Burn Heal to a Super Potion, the Snivy thought of something. "S-Sylvie?"

"Yes Elliott?"

"Is... is Ben awake yet?"

The Sylveon looked over to the bed that housed a Torchic and shook her head, "Not yet."

"Oh..." disappointedly responded Elliott, an idea soon popping into his head. "Bu-but can't you use a wake up spray on him?"

The Sylveon chuckled and smiled before shaking her head. "We gotta let Ben rest for a little while. If we wake him up now, it may take a really long time for him to get better. Then he wouldn't be able to play during recess. And we don't want that. Do we?"

Elliott sadly dropped and shook his head, extremely bummed that he would have to wait even longer to talk to his best friend. Wanting so badly to see him up and moving again.

After getting finished with healing up Elliott, Sylvie made her way to a mini fridge and started digging around. Finding what she was looking for, she spun around, closed the fridge door with a hind leg and walked over to Elliott while carrying 4 berries, one in each ribbon.

Elliott watched her do all of this, becoming quite curious as to why she was carrying those berries. "What are those for?"

"These are berries for you and Ben to eat. You each get a blue one and yellow one." explained Sylvie, handing Elliott one Rawst berry and one Sitrus berry. "They're gonna help you heal. So make sure to eat them all up."

Elliott looked down at the berries and back up at the Sylveon. "Can I give mine to Ben? I want him to feel better right away."

Sylvie admired Elliott's care and concern for his friend, but knew what was ultimately best for each of them. "I'm afraid not Elliott. Both of you need to eat your berries so you'll feel all better by-"

"Oouuch..." interrupted a groan from the adjacent bed.

Sylvie's ears perked up, turning to see that Ben had just woken up, but was far from pain free. Evident of the tears streaming down the Torchic's face.

"My leg... it-it-it huuurts..." whimpered Ben, feeling a constant sharp pain originating from the cut on his leg.

Sylvie, having already exhausted all medical options to her disposal, chose to reach out and lay a few of her ribbons on Ben. Gently stroking his feathers, she transferred a soothing aura to the Torchic in an attempt to calm him down for the time being.

"Can I see Ben?" asked Elliott, who was constantly trying to get a better view of his now conscious friend.

Sylvie turned to the eager Snivy, having just come up with a great idea that would benefit everyone. "Hey Elliott, do you think you could comfort Ben for a bit? I have some calls to make in my office and I would really like your help."

Elliott was now jumping up and down on the bed, clearly excited just to be with his friend. "Yeah yeah yeah! I can help! I can help!"

Sylvie giggled at how giddy Elliott was acting, "Okay. Okay. But you have to promise to be gentle. Ben is still hurting quite a bit."

"I promise."

Picking Elliott up with her ribbons, she gently placed the Snivy next to Ben who was still softly crying.

Elliott scooched closer to Ben and gently patted on him the head, even going as far as to stoke his head feathers just like Sylvie did. "It's okay Ben. You don't have to cry. I'm here for you." comforted Elliott. The Snivy then carefully hugging the Torchic, being extra mindful not to squeeze too hard or touch Ben's injured leg.

Ben, although still feeling more than enough pain, greatly appreciated his friend's company. Unable to reply at the moment due to still being dog tired from what had happened recently.

To Sylvie's surprise, Ben actually stopped sobbing, like, completely! She was definitely very lucky to have help like Elliott. Taking advantage of the quiet, she walked into her office and closed the door behind her. Preparing herself for what she believed was the hardest part of her job: calling the parents...

**ONE HEARTBREAKING PHONE CALL LATER...**

Kelvin slowly placed the wireless phone back in it's charging base. Dropping his head and leaning up against the kitchen counter, he attempted to absorb all the horrible information that was just told to him over the phone.

"Anyone important?" asked Shula from the dining room, the Blaziken currently occupied with feeding Lucas a cut up Oran berry. The only immediate answer she received; however, was a loud pounding sound against the kitchen counter. The sound leading Shula to look into the kitchen and watch as Kelvin slowly walked into the doorway, looking as if he had just seen a ghost. "Kelvin? Who called?" inquired Shula again, but this time in a slightly more worried and persistent tone.

The Blaziken swallowed the lump in his throat and shakily inhaled before regaining the ability to speak. "That was the... school nurse."

"..."

"Ben got... beat up... really, really badly. I was told he has a massive cut on his leg that needed stitches, bruises all over his body and he somehow got burned in a few places as well. It- it doesn't sound good at all Shula..." concluded Kelvin. The lump preventing him from speaking any further; trying his best not cry in front of his wife and youngest son.

Shula just stared at her husband in shock while tears filled her eyes, having just realized that her fears from Saturday had now become reality. Feeling sick to her stomach, almost as if she was going to throw up, the Blaziken planted her face into her talons and began loudly weeping. Unable to fathom why anyone would want to beat up her oldest son to such an extreme extent.

"Food?" cutely requested Lucas from his high chair, the Torchic more than ready to consume another five whole Oran berries.

Shula returned her attention back to Lucas, managing to smile at her son whose beak and surrounding feathers were already covered with the blue juices of his lunch. Snatching the Torchic out of his high chair, she gave him a tight hug, a few of her tears managing to fall on Lucas' head.

The young Torchic felt the drops soak into feathers; looking up to see that his mommy was crying. Not ever wanting her to be sad, Lucas started to affectionately brush and rub his head against her chest. "It okay mommy. You- you no have to cry." comforted the Torchic.

Lucas' comment only made Shula cry even harder, not wanting the same thing to happen to her youngest son as well. "K-Kelvin I don't- I don't want them l-living like we did. Not our kids, plea-please not our kids." begged Shula, trembling fiercely as she lovingly clutched her son with her talons.

Kelvin fought back tears as hard as he could while taking a seat next to his wife. "S-Sweetie, everything is going to be f-f-fine, I promise." assured Kelvin, who then embraced and held onto two of the three reasons why he woke up everyday. "Because this time, I'll make sure it never happens again..."

* * *

Mike unlocked the door to his home, entered, and closed it behind him. The Sceptile had just come back from a relaxing walk around the neighborhood. That being something he liked to do on a daily basis to appreciate nature's beauty, soak up some sun, and to just unwind a bit. Walking into the kitchen while shifting through some new mail, he took notice of the red blinking light from the message machine. That indicating that it had a new message to be heard. Pressing the play button, he listened in on what the machine had to say while continuing his inspection of the mail.

"YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSAGE!" began the machine,

***BEEP***

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Green. This is the school nurse calling to inform you that Elliott had been knocked out by an Ember attack on the playground earlier today during recess. He did sustain some heavy burns to his face and upper body, but at the time of this call he is all healed up. I did give him a Rawst and Sitrus berry to munch on so he should be feeling alright by the time he gets home. If he's still not feeling one hundred percent, have him play or sit in the sun for about a half an hour. The sunlight should get him back in tip top shape. If you would like to get in touch with me or have any questions, my number is (495)255-0393. Thank you for your time and try to enjoy the rest of your day."

***BEEP***

"END OF FINAL MESS-"

***CRUNCH***

Mike's tightened fist was now where the message machine once sat. The electronic device having just been smashed into thousands of unrecognizable pieces that flew in all directions. The Sceptile had heard enough, now wanting so badly to kill the Pokémon that had done this to his son. Only able to think of one Fire-type who was capable of doing such a thing... Ben the Torchic.

* * *

Alrighty. That about does it for this chapter. Remember to **favorite**, **follow** and if you're extra generous, consider dropping a **review**. I would really, really appreciate if you did any of those things as I'm really looking for any kind of **feedback** on my story. If you don't have an account for this website but would still like to get updates on when new chapters drop, give my Twitter a follow **('at'symbol)Ben99_561**. The profile picture is a Torchic :3 I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I will talk to you awesome people in chapter 9 :)

**And to the people that actually read everything in the chapters I post(including the author's notes), I thank you and present to you a little gift. Enjoy!**

Sylvie hung up the phone and breathed a big sigh of relief. Calling the parents of injured students was, and always will be, the most stressful part of the job for her. Sometimes she'd get lucky and just get an answering machine. Other times, she'd have to work on calming down panicky parents, all of them rightfully concerned about the health and well-being of their children.

Sliding out of a chair made for quadrupeds, she opened the door to the room where Ben and Elliott were located. Fully expecting the two boys to be screwing around and doing other stuff they weren't supposed to be doing. But instead of Elliott jumping on a bed or Ben walking around on his injured leg... there was complete silence. That actually spiked the Sylveon with a bit of panic, first thinking that the boys had actually left the office. After a few quickly glances around the room, Sylvie immediately calmed down.

Ben and Elliott were both sound asleep in the same bed. Peacefully dreaming about whatever preschool Pokémon dream about. Getting a closer look at the super cute display, Sylvie noticed that Elliott had his arms and vines gently wrapped around Ben. "Awwwww." quietly awed Sylvie. Thankful that a cute scene like this had managed to make its way into her usually depressing day at work. Walking back to her office, she turned the light off to the main room. Looking back and smiling at the pair before slowly shutting her office door, knowing full well that those two would grow up to be the best of friends.

**-TheOneAndOnlyBen99**


End file.
